


To Our Future

by SerenareyChiba



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Action/Adventure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-22
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-18 08:18:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2341454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerenareyChiba/pseuds/SerenareyChiba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Through the years, Usagi has learned that strength doesn't come with just power, but the will to live on. Now 20-years-old, she is ready to begin a new chapter in her life until something mysterious takes place and she's back in her 14-year-old body.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Rome was not built in a day, nor by any one person. Doubtless, you have heard this many times over your life. This should also bring to light that the city was not ruled by one single person – oh certainly, you’ve heard of kings and such, but with a king lies a council, and amongst the council even more peons to push papers around and call the shots. Of course, ruling a country is no different than ruling a company – in most cases, the country is just bigger, with more people.”

The fifty-something odd, balding, tall bean-sprout of a professor walked back and forth in front of the projection screen at the very front of the classroom. His beady eyes glanced over the two hundred students sitting in one his lecture that day, and he gave a large harrumph as he turned to face the class fully. Stroking his beardless chin, the man frowned up at one student in particular and pointed his finger in the student’s direction.

“You there.”

The student’s head popped up immediately, and she set down her pen atop her notepad, sitting up straight as she focused her attention completely on the professor. Her professor gave her a long stare before his eyes shifted over to the back wall. Noticing the time for class was completely up, he moved around the table at the front of the classroom, and laid out several stacks of papers.

“I want each of you to write me a 2000-word essay distinctly describing the approaches to how you would run a country were you her king or queen, and then I would like you to fulfill the five activities in chapter two of your textbook. The essay will be due at the beginning of class on Friday, and the activities are due promptly Wednesday. I will accept no late homework, as you must already be aware, and any person who does not come in before I take attendance Wednesday will be counted absent unless by excuse of an immediate emergency. Each one of you come take one of each of these guides – one is your syllabus, and one is your schedule. We will convene again on Wednesday. You are dismissed.”

The student who had been called upon earlier let out a soft sigh, vaguely noticing all the students around her begin to stand up and move down to the front of the class. It was the first day of class for the new semester, and she didn’t really want to start it off on the wrong foot; not to mention she didn’t know anyone just yet and couldn’t rely on others’ help. The lighting from the florescent lights lining the ceiling glinted off of her azure-blue eyes as she raised up her head. She pulled out her cell phone, noting the time and moved to slowly gather all of her materials and place them into her bag. Turning to move into the aisle, she, too, went down the stairs to retrieve the two necessary sheets from the table.

As she approached the table, the professor glanced at her briefly, noting both her appearance and somewhat serious countenance. When she gathered both of her sheets, he spoke:

“Tsukino-san, was it?”

Tsukino Usagi raised her eyes to meet his, nodding slowly. He crossed his arms over his chest, smiling. “I’ve heard of you from other teachers. You’ve got an eye for business, young lady.”

Her eyes widened and Usagi let loose a small smile, happy that her efforts so far in university had done her well – more so than when she had been in junior high and early high school.

“However, and I stress this fervently,” he continued, gaining her attention again, “taking notes may lead one to success, but taking notice of things to be noted will lead to an ultimate victory. In other words,” he said, chuckling when her expression shifted to one of confusion, “Don’t just take notes in class, Tsukino-san, but really try to listen to what I have to say. It’s a large part of what running a business is all about.”

* * *

 As Usagi sat on the train watching building structures zoom past, she thought of her professor’s words deeply. It was true that as soon as class had started, she had begun writing down a storm of everything she had thought to be important, but didn’t hear much more than those points. If she didn’t pay attention to everything as she was supposed to, the future of the world would be an infinitely bleak one. She glanced at her watch and made a small smile. She was on time for once, and her friends would never believe it.

Her long, golden-blonde tresses glinted from the reddened, evening sun as she shifted positions and waited impatiently for the next stop. Her bag was gripped tightly in her lap and so she easily felt the small pulse of something flow across her body. Usagi looked down in surprise when another pulse flew through her and although she had a good idea of what was causing it, there was nothing she could do in a train car crowded with kids and young adults going home from school activities. When the train stopped moments later at her station, Azabu-Juuban, Usagi hurriedly got off reaching deep into her bag for her wallet. Pressing her IC card against the card reader, she went through the ticket gates and took a deep breath as she walked towards an exit. Usagi delved back into her bag, exchanging her wallet for a broach about the size of her palm.

It had been a long while since she had paid much attention to the broach, if only to look at it. She still used it regularly, but she hadn’t thought to take the time to consider its general features. A heart-shaped broach with wings extending off the sides, glittering with gold along the molding and the crystal glittering gold in the center. Flipping it in her hand as she walked down the street towards her friend’s shrine, she felt the crystal pulse strongly and its rays washed over her, almost in a cleansing fashion.

As of lately, there hadn’t been too many battles for her to involve herself in, and if there were, she could normally take them on alone. Many things were done alone for her lately, and not just fighting battles against even spirits and demons. Usagi avoided a near collision with another woman racing down the street, and she slid the broach back into her bag and calmly looked up at the quickly darkening, evening sky. The young woman had begun university courses two years before at Keio University, surprisingly. Even she was still surprised to that very day, because she still couldn’t believe she had actually passed her exams for it. Of course, she had studied harder than ever just to get into the disreputably distinguished school, but that was such a far cry from when she had been in middle school averaging grades of forties.

All of her other friends had also moved away from Tokyo for the most part to go to schools most befitting to them. Usagi longed for the days where she could hang out with her friends regardless of time of day or year, but she had done some serious maturing over the years. She realized that just because they were apart, that did not mean they were not still the same good friends they always had been. Usagi smiled softly as she remembered all the fun activities she had done with her friends and she had hardly realized she had moved across the city to her friend’s shrine until she was looking up the hundreds of steps leading to it. Glancing at her watch really quickly, Usagi grinned when she realized she was indeed on time. Well, would wonders never cease.

Walking up the stairs, Usagi’s long ponytail swayed from side to side as her heels click-clacked on the concrete steps. Though she had walked up so many, Usagi hadn’t felt the least bit out of breath, and she gave the shrine a quick look-over, sighing as she understood that this shrine was one of the few constants in her life that would stay a constant. She pushed her bag onto her shoulder and walked around the shrine towards the side where she knew her friend resided. Hearing loud bouts of laughter, Usagi smiled softly and leaned over to slide open the older, paper doors. Five faces peered out at her, a grin slowly growing on each one.

“Usagi-chan!” chorused all five of the women. One woman in particular looked up at the clock on her wall and stared at the blonde with disbelief apparent in her expression. “You’re on time!”

“Of course I’m on time,” she retorted casually, taking off her heels and sliding onto the wooden platform connecting to the outside of the room. “How could I be late to one of the first parties we’ve had for months?”

“You were last time,” came a quick reply, to which Usagi childishly stuck out her tongue.

“Times change when you’re as amazing as I am.”

“Gee, I’m not sure which Usagi I like more,” the other woman replied, her violet eyes twitching slightly from irritation as she pushed her long, raven-black hair out of the way. “The crybaby who never got the hint of how annoying she was, or the oh-so-mature one who still never takes a hint.”

“Dear, dear Rei,” Usagi began, fully scooting into the room and sliding the door closed behind her, “there are none more annoying than my lovely friend and rival, you.”

“Why you little annoying twit!” yelled Hino Rei, standing up tall to look down on the blonde. “You haven’t changed at all!”

“It takes one to know one, and at least I don’t go around holding Care Bears next to me on trains!”

“Wha-! You said you wouldn’t tell anyone about that, you twit!”

“Oh, oops, did I say that? Well, I have to say you really _are_ quite adorable when you do…”

The two girls glared deeply at each other as the four other women present in the room stared up at them, not wanting to get involved in the least. Rei and Usagi continued to glare at one another for a couple more minutes before both broke down with smile and light laughter. Rei held out a hand, grinning at her long time friend.

“It’s great to see you again, Usagi-chan.”

“It definitely is,” replied the blonde, grasping Rei’s hand firmly. She turned to sit down and smiled at the four other women.

Her eyes first sought out the woman closest to her, still wearing her trademark short-cut, turquoise-blue hair, although she appeared to be growing it out some. Mizuno Ami’s eyes were still the same pure, ocean-blue they had always been when both her and Usagi had been younger, and they still seemed so kind and wise through Usagi’s eyes. Usagi shifted her gaze over to the woman sitting next to Ami, with her garnet-red eyes looking back at Usagi kindly. Meiou Setsuna was one of the eldest women in the room, though only in her late twenties, or so she appeared. Her lovely forest-green hair still ran down in waves, pooling along the floor. Usagi was still jealous of how beautiful and smart the older woman was, but no one had the ability to ever choose how they were going to look. Still, she couldn’t help but be jealous…a lot.

Usagi then moved to look at the couple sitting over in the corner, and noticed the trademark dirty-blonde hair cut into a more masculine hairstyle on Tenou Haruka, and the long, wavy, aquamarine-green hair of Kaiou Michiru. The two were the first ever lesbian couple she had ever had the opportunity to meet, although it didn’t change how amazing of friends they were. Both blondes looked at each other and Haruka leaned forward and gently shook a can of beer in front of Usagi’s face, grinning all the while.

“You finished checking us out, little Usagi? Come on, drink up. That’s what we’re here for.”

The younger blonde blinked a few times as she reached out to take the can and look over at Ami and Rei to confirm that they, too, were drinking as well. Ami rocked back and forth her glass of beer, smiling gently at Usagi. Gasping, Usagi set down her can and pointed at the genius:

“You’re drinking! You never drink! Wait, are you even allowed to drink? Aren’t you a doctor? Can doctors drink?”

“I’m off-duty, Usagi,” Ami said, chuckling, “and I’m still in med school. I won’t be a doctor for years yet. I can drink just fine.”

Rei leaned forward muttering, “The one who can’t hold her liquor is you, Usagi…”

Setsuna smirked slightly, shrugging as she looked over at Haruka and Michiru. “Well, she could never drink in the past as a princess either.”

Haruka and Michiru chuckled slightly at Usagi’s expense, and the latter narrowed her eyes, giving each woman a hard look. “You just watch! I’ll out-drink you all!”

Haruka looked up quickly, and dived forward, putting her face in Usagi’s. “Is that a challenge, little bunny? I’ll win, you know.”

“You wish,” Usagi countered, opening her can of beer with a soft hiss.

“Then how about a little wager?”

“I’m up for that. What’d you have in mind?”

“Loser molests Setsuna.”

“What…? I don’t want to molest a girl,” Usagi muttered slowly, but when she saw the smug expression on Haruka’s face, and the shocked expression on Setsuna’s, she found she couldn’t turn down the deal. She liked seeing Haruka get knocked down off of her pedestal every so often, and seeing Setsuna look anything short of serious or kind was rare indeed.

“Fine,” Usagi murmured, smirking as she pushed her can of beer in Haruka’s face. “Let’s up the ante then! I win, and I get Michiru for a week, and you have to make it so Setsuna actually starts enjoying herself!”

Ami, Rei, Michiru, and Setsuna looked at Usagi, completely aghast, the latter two of the four especially. The forest-green-haired woman moved between the two blondes as a type of referee, and cried out her indignation. “How dare you two,” she shouted, glaring at them both. “Who are you to bring _me_ into your deal!”

“I concur,” muttered Michiru. “I’m an innocent party over here. Don’t bring me into this.”

“There’s nothing to a challenge if you don’t make a really good bet on it,” Haruka stated matter-of-factly. “You’ll just have to sit there and deal. Besides, you could tell people you were molested by _the_ Queen of the Earth, Setsuna.”

“Then have her molest you!”

“I have Michiru,” the blonde rebuked innocently. “What more do I need?”

Michiru turned away, sardonically whispering, “Only if you win. Why was I pulled into this again?”

Setsuna kept pestering Haruka, though the latter finally shouted, “Deal, Usagi! If I win then, you molest…Rei, Ami, _and_ Setsuna, and make sure they enjoy it!”

“Fine!” Usagi conceded. “Here’s to the first can!”

Setsuna sat back against the wall, face pale and feeling completely victimized. Rei glared at Haruka, wondering how the hell she got pulled into the dumb deal, too, and Ami figured she could leave if things got too chaotic. Rei then glared over at her, knowing exactly what the genius had been thinking. Michiru tilted her glass at the other three women who had been pulled into the deal as well, smiling slightly.

“Here’s to a wonderful reunion.”

“Cheers,” the other three mumbled, each drinking their glass dry.

* * *

  _The mist permeated the area where Usagi walked, and her eyes darted back and forth with caution. Her feet tapped against the ground lightly as she walked aimlessly through the mist, wondering where she was and how she had gotten there. She heard a burst of explosion in the distance, and barely had enough time to dodge out of the way and roll across the hard concrete. A flash of light sparked in her peripheral vision and she stood up to dash away again only to get blasted back and crashing to the ground. Usagi groaned, her gaze unfocused as she turned to look up and around her. A figure came up to her, frowning when she saw who was lying on the ground._

_“Sailor Moon.”_

_Usagi’s expression tightened and she quickly rose, spun around and flipped backwards, landing into a fighting stance. She was about to challenge whoever had found out her identity until she realized just who was staring back at her in confusion._

_“Sailor…Pluto?” Usagi questioned tentatively. “Setsuna? What’s wrong? Was there something you didn’t tell me at the party?”_

_“I do not know what you mean about a party, Sailor Moon, nor do I know how you know my Earthen name, but I have come to give you a warning.”_

_“A warning? Why didn’t you just tell me this earlier before I drank myself half to death?” Usagi asked, completely bewildered. “Does this have to do with a new evil?”_

_“The tides have changed, Sailor Moon. Your life as you know it no longer exists. I am sorry this had to happen to you, but you must learn to adapt, and rise up once again.”_

_“Rise up? Tides? What are you talking about, Sailor Pluto? I don’t understand!”_

_“I am sorry, but this was never supposed to happen to you. Please, take care.”_

_“Huh?” Usagi whispered, not understanding what the senshi was telling her at all._

_The two looked back behind Usagi when they heard another bang in the distance. Usagi, too preoccupied with what she had just heard didn’t notice as Pluto raised her staff, and stabbed the end through Usagi’s torso from behind her._

What _? thought Usagi, as she saw the ginzuishou soar out of her body._ It was…in me _, were the last words she thought as she saw the ginzuishou shatter into millions and millions of pieces._

_Usagi fell down to the ground, eyes wide and vacant as she lay there, no longer breathing. Sailor Pluto clutched her staff to her body, watching as white energy slowly rose up from the fallen senshi’s body and floated towards the now open Gates of Time. A tear slowly slid down Sailor Pluto’s cheek, and she bit her lip._

_“I…am so sorry, my Princess…”_

* * *

 Usagi’s eyes shot open, before she put a hand to her head. She was surprised to find she didn’t sport any kind of headache, even after drinking nine cans of beer – though she had probably been drunk by the third, since she really, really couldn’t hold her liquor as Rei had noted. Turning to look up over her head at the bookshelf at the head of her bed, she noticed her clock had switched from being the sleek model her boyfriend, Chiba Mamoru, had bought for her and back to the cute rooster thing she thought she had thrown in a box and forgotten about long ago. Chuckling, she realized her mother must have gotten nostalgic again and had switched it around. This wasn’t the first time for it to happen – she’d just have to trade them out again when she got home from school. Usagi pushed off her comforter – that had changed, too…was her mom really that nostalgic lately? – and threw her legs over the side of her bed.

What to wear that day was her first thought at hand and she rubbed the back of her right hand over her eyes as she yawned and walked over to her closet. She really enjoyed being a university student and not having to wear the same, old uniform every day, but it was definitely taxing to find something different and suitable to wear all the time. Couldn’t be anything too fancy or too grungy – in general, wearing a uniform had its perks, she supposed. Choosing a simple pair of jeans, a short-sleeved blouse and a low-keyed belt to wear, she set them on the bed and went to go wash her face in the restroom. After a few minutes, she returned to her room with her long hair combed down and into her usual ponytail, got dressed, and turned to grab her bag – a bag that seemed to be missing.

“What did I do with that?” she muttered, looking around curiously. It was her favorite bag and she never went to school without it, but since she had woken up in her bed, maybe that meant Haruka or Setsuna had driven her home and had forgotten to bring her bag back with them. Well, it wasn’t so important that she needed it that exact day anyway. She would ask them about it later.

She grabbed a different notebook from her closet, a few pencils, and stuck everything in another purse she had lying around. “Now,” she murmured, beginning to get annoyed. “Where is my cell phone?”

Her frustration mounted a bit when she realized she’d left that in her bag, too. “I’ll just have to head over to Rei’s later then, I guess. Ridiculous. I’m not drinking with that woman again. I don’t even know if I won or not.”

Usagi hefted her bag onto her shoulder and walked out of her room, closing it after her. Filing downstairs, she called out her good-byes to her mother and walked towards the front door.

“You’re leaving so early, Usagi-chan?”

“Yep,” the blonde said, turning back to smile at her confused mother coming down the hallway. “If I don’t leave now, the station will get really crowded and I’ll have to wait in line for a while.”

“Train?” echoed Tsukino Ikuko, confused. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but are you planning to leave the house looking like that?”

Usagi turned to look back at her mother, eyes wide as she made complete eye contact. “What do you mean? Do I look bad? And yes, the train. How else am I supposed to get to school? Walk? Well, I mean, I could, but…”

“This must be another of your antics, Usagi-chan,” sighed Ikuko softly. “Well, I won’t be having it today, no ma’am. I’d had such high hopes, too, seeing you up so bright and early.”

“What are you talking about, Mom?”

“Go back upstairs and put on your uniform,” the woman admonished, turning around to go back into the kitchen. “Good gracious, the train, she says. What will I hear next?”

“Wha-,” Usagi choked out, staring after her mom. “What uniform? Well, whatever, I’m heading to school now. See you, Mom?”

She turned around to grasp hold of the door when she heard her mom shout at her to go back and put on her uniform. Really confused, Usagi was about to shout back when she noticed someone come running down the stairs and stare at her. Usagi stared back at the young-looking boy, disbelief etched into her features.

“Shingo?” she whispered. “You look so…young.”

Shingo looked at her as if she had grew a third eye or something. “I’m ten-and-a-half, you dumb butt. What am I supposed to look like, an elephant? Wow, you get more and more stupid every day.”

“Ten?” Usagi gasped out, eyes wider than ever. _He’s ten? Wait, uniform? I should…check this out._

She rushed past her younger brother, gently pushing him aside as she ran up the stairs two-by-two. He shook his head, his messy, chestnut-brown hair flying everywhere. “Mom,” he called, going into the kitchen, “I think Usagi just got weirder!”

Usagi burst into her room, and looked up at her wall to see her junior high uniform resting on a hanger. _What!_ she thought incredulously. It couldn’t be! She hadn’t worn that outfit for years! However, the proof was hanging right in front of her, although she couldn’t understand what was going on at all. Swirling around and running up to her mirror, she glanced in it only to see herself…looking far, far younger.

“Is…is this me?” she whispered, slowly lifting up a hand to feel her now-so-much-pudgier cheeks. “I haven’t…had this much weight on me since I was…”

She looked back up at her uniform, her eyes narrowing slightly as she took on a more serious countenance. “Since before I was Sailor Moon. And if that’s the case, then something has gone wrong. I will have to discuss this with Sailor Pluto immediately.”

The blonde turned her gaze over towards the clock on her table, frowning slightly. She only had thirty minutes to get to school, so there wasn’t near enough time to summon the Time Guardian senshi to her and have a thorough talk. _I’ll just have to go ahead and go to school as the Usagi of now would,_ she thought to herself as she pulled her uniform off of its hanger. _I’ll deal with Sailor Pluto later._

Turning then to grab the bag she had used in junior high, she walked out of her room a second time and walked down the stairs. “I’m off,” she called out towards the kitchen, and she walked over towards the entryway of the house and put on her shoes for school. She waved briefly at a smiling Ikuko and walked out of the house and down the street.

It had been quite a while since she’d taken this path to her old school, and she wasn’t even sure if she clearly remembered the way. She looked from side to side as she casually walked, her sharp, azure-blue eyes taking in every detail. Cars raced by her and she frowned, wishing she had her license back – it wasn’t as if she ever actually drove, but it was always a welcome feeling to know that she was at least legal to do so. She started when she heard a loud mewling sound, and narrowed her eyes slightly. When she heard it again, Usagi exhaled slightly and began pushing herself to run as fast as she could to the source. Running up along a wall and sliding around into the first entrance she saw, Usagi noticed three children holding down a black cat and doing something to it.

“Luna,” she muttered, walking up to the children. Standing over the three of them, she put her left hand on hip as she glared down at them.

“What the hell are you kids doing. Get out of here.”

The three children, spooked that she’d managed to sneak up on them, dropped the cat and ran away as fast as their little legs could carry them. She sighed, and turned to look down at the pathetic creature on the ground. Well, Luna wasn’t really pathetic by any means, but Usagi hadn’t been the only one to mature over the years. She bent down to pick up the mewing cat and slowly and tenderly pulled off the two band-aids covering Luna’s crescent moon. Usagi smiled gently when Luna’s ruby-red eyes opened wide and peered curiously at the blonde. To Usagi’s chagrin, however, the black cat quickly leapt up out of her arms up to atop of her head and then over to the top of a nearby car.

The now-young-teenager looked up at the cat, eyes narrowed. _I suppose since nothing else in my life is constant, she won’t be either. That means…she doesn’t remember me at all. That’s a painful thing to try to realize._

Although the last time Usagi had seen the cat had been that morning before she had left for school, it now felt like ages upon ages. She was surprised however, when Luna laid down on the car and tilted her head at Usagi. The two stared at one another before Usagi hesitantly asked,

“Luna…?”

One of Luna’s eyebrows rose mockingly – just like old times, to Usagi’s annoyance. “And now things get just a bit weirder.”

Usagi stared at the cat, shocked. “What, you’re talking to me? I don’t remember you talking to me the first time I met you?”

“I didn’t,” replied the cat bluntly. “Well, glad to see I’m not the only one in this backwards past.”

Usagi gazed around her, making sure the coast was clear before she started talking to the cat like a person mentally ill. Snapping her serious gaze back at Luna, she whispered harshly, “What’s going on? Last night I was downing drinks with Haruka, and today I’m stuck in some kind of time vortex in the past.”

“It’s not a vortex,” Luna stated, her own expression serious. “This is reality. However, this is a reality only you and I should not be part of. Do you remember anything strange happening over the time since I saw you last?”

The blonde seemed a bit taken aback, but quickly recovered as she searched through her memories. “The ginzuishou was pulsating quite a bit more than usual, but nothing had happened at that point, so I didn’t pay too much attention to it.”

“That’s not enough to go on, Usagi-chan. Anything else?”

“Hmm,” she murmured, thinking deeply. A flash of a crystal shattering fluttered across her mind and she made herself hold onto the fleeting vision. “I don’t…know if it’s a dream or a vision, or what, but I clearly saw the ginzuishou shattering into a million pieces.”

Luna tilted her head at this new piece of information. “Interesting, but won’t get us anywhere at the moment. At this point, all we can do is let life play as it should, though we’ve already managed to muck it up somewhat. I suggest you go to school and I’ll go talk to Artemis, I mean…Central Control,” she corrected herself, rolling her eyes as Usagi let loose a small smile.

“Oh, before you go,” the cat continued, standing up and stretching as Usagi turned back to look at her. Luna jumped high into the air, performing a small back-flip as a small locket fell down and clanged against the top of the car. When she landed, Luna said, “I’m going to go see if I can track down Artemis and Minako if possible, so I might be gone for a while. However, there are still demons you must take care of, so use this. I’m sure you can get rid of a few on your own?”

“Oh sure,” Usagi muttered, flipping the locket up and catching it tightly. “As long as they don’t start throwing dark energy and little, pink-haired kids at me. I’ll be fine. The sooner you can get those two in on the action, the sooner we can go ahead and take down the Dark Kingdom.”

“All right then. Good luck, Usagi,” Luna whispered, smiling down warmly at her charge. Usagi’s expression turned into one of concern when she realized Luna wasn’t ready to leave yet. Luna’s ruby-red eyes peered down at Usagi, who returned the gaze completely.

Luna looked down for a few second before glancing back up determinedly. “Actually, I wonder if you might help me in my search instead of going to school…”

When seeing Usagi’s expression change into a bewildered one, she hurriedly rushed to explain: “I do not ask for your help lightly. I would never take you away from your studies, but going back to your junior high classes will not help you one bit at the moment. We have more serious matters to concern ourselves with.”

“Not that I don’t agree,” Usagi conceded, knowing she hadn’t really wanted to go to school in the first place – at least not to her junior high classes anyway – but this was something Luna had never done before, “but what about the youma we have to deal with here? I can’t remember exactly, but I could have sworn there was something special that I did today.”

“We’ll have to cross that bridge when it comes, Usagi,” Luna stated, a touch of exasperation present in her tone. “There are probably a great many things we missed the first time around, and it was mostly because we didn’t have the military backup for it. The more senshi we find now, the sooner we can finish, just as you said.”

Well, when Luna put it that way, Usagi couldn’t help but to understand the logic in it. Going to school really wouldn’t help her at all this late in the game, and if nothing else, she could ask some people for notes. It probably wouldn’t be entirely necessary though. Usagi wasn’t stupid,  just lazy beyond repair. Some things just didn’t change.

“All right, I’ll go,” Usagi relented, pushing her shoulders back and her head up high. “I have a good idea of where Minako is anyway. She should be here in Japan by now, and not still in the UK. She’ll be in class like the good girl she is.”

Luna glanced at her oddly, echoing incredulously, “ ‘Good girl,’ you say? Are we talking about the same Aino Minako here?”

“Well, okay, fine. So she has her moments.”

Usagi smiled slightly as she recalled the times of partying with her blonde friend, and grinned up at Luna. “She’s over at Shiba-Kouen junior high. We won’t be able to catch her until later. You sure you still want to go now?”

“Hmm,” Luna murmured, thinking deeply. “We need to flush them out. They won’t show up unless it’s an emergency, and walking straight into their school won’t do…”

“Why not just go to her house after school?”

“Her house?” cried Luna, taken aback before she repeated in a softer tone, “Her house? I suppose that would be simplest…”

“Great,” Usagi said, smiling. “Nothing to do but wait for her to get out of school, so I think I’ll just go to school myself anyway. How about I meet you at the station, and we’ll take the train over there after I get out?”

Seeing Luna nod slowly, Usagi grinned and starting really looking forward to seeing her old friend again, even if said friend didn’t know about her in return. She turned around to look for a clock and cringed when she saw the time. “I missed homeroom already. I’ve got to get going. I’ll see you at the station later, Luna!”

Usagi waved at Luna quickly before dashing away and down the street. Luna frowned as the blonde, young woman left her presence, before rising up and stretching her entire body. While Usagi was gone, Luna had a few more tasks to complete that she, as a cat, could definitely get away with.

Jumping down to the pavement, Luna paced around wondering which area she should visit first. Kino Makoto would have to wait for a while, as no one knew what school she had gone to previously. The woman hadn’t particularly liked speaking of her past to anyone, even after so many years. Mizuno Ami was another mystery, as she didn’t know the exact academy the highly intelligent girl had attended. The Outer Senshi wouldn’t appear for a while, and hunting them down was not an option either, so the only one she could physically search out at that moment was Hino Rei. A simple enough task – Luna knew what school she attended, and knew how to infiltrate it. Her mind set on what she would do, the black cat immediately shifted direction and jumped back onto the car and onto a nearby wall edge, before switching direction again and running towards where T*A Private Girls School was located.

Jumping from building to building took a lot more out of her now than it had in years for her, and the trip ending up taking the better part of an hour as opposed to the thirty minutes she could normally do. Luna laid down on the concrete ground, breathing in and out hard as she stared through the gates of the school and onto the building itself. Luckily for her, perhaps, that it was lunch time and that all the girls were outside enjoying the nice weather. Noticing the high walls, however, Luna realized she’d never be able to scale the walls successfully, and so began searching for alternatives ways to get in.

After taking thirty minutes to search around the entire perimeter, she found there were little loopholes to take advantage of, and realized she would have to do something more drastic instead. Of course, she could wait for school to end, but that wouldn’t give her enough time to talk to Rei. Lunch time was almost over as well, so Luna had to hurry. She paced in front of the front gate, checking out the size of each space between all the bars. Maybe she could fit through, but it would definitely take her some work and flexibility.

Putting her head at one of the spaces, she pushed through bit by bit until she realized she would never be able to get her head back out if something happened. When she looked around her again in annoyance for another possible route, she noticed a small drainage area leading under the wall and into the school area. She needed to get in, sure, but she didn’t want to smell like sewage in doing so. Noticing the young women in the school start to pack up their lunches and move inside, she let out a small growl, frustrated her reconnaissance hadn’t helped her any. Luna sighed softly, her eyes drooping slightly as she realized she would indeed have to wait for Usagi to help her out.

She turned away from the gate to start her journey back towards Azabu-Juuban Junior High and ran down the sidewalk to claw up a nearby tree and jump from it to a nearby wall. From there, she hopped from wall to wall until she eventually came across low windows on various buildings. It wasn’t long before she was jumping from roof to roof and looking down on the city as she went. There was virtually nothing the cat could do until Usagi got out of school, but whereas she had spent all her time scouting out Usagi the first time around and had that take up her entire day, that was now an unnecessary practice to undertake.

Eventually, Luna landed down on the sidewalk across the street from a well-known jewelry store. Frowning slightly as she stared over at the store, it dawned upon her that this was the place where Sailor Moon had fought against her very first youma. Not that it had been much of an accomplishment, but it was still something to take note of. Luna’s eyes intently focused on the building, her tail twitching every so often as thought after thought ran through her mind. Though it wasn’t in Usagi’s friend’s best interests, perhaps waiting a few more days for the youma to…no, no, Luna amended mentally. Letting the Dark Kingdom accumulate any energy at all was not beneficial to their cause. The youma would have to be taken care of promptly…but that couldn’t happen until evening came. There was still a lot of time before that would take place.

“Well, aren’t you a cute kitty?”

Luna’s head turned sharply to look up at the person who had spoken down at her, her tail twitching ever more rapidly. Her glare softened slightly when she took in the man’s midnight-black hair and kind, storm-blue eyes, realizing exactly who it was talking to her. When the man crouched down and gently beckoned for Luna to come to him, she decided to do so – this man wasn’t a threat to her or Usagi, not in the least. He scratched behind her ears, and she couldn’t stop her purrs from coming out, much to her embarrassment. He smiled good-naturedly at her. “Hey, I’m Mamoru. I wonder what your name is, little one.”

She mewed a bit in response, unsure of what else to do. Chiba Mamoru tilted his head and chuckled a bit. “Well, you’re sure a quiet one, but really beautiful. I bet you get all the men, huh?”

Luna’s blush intensified a bit, and she mewed pitifully. Wow, this was really embarrassing for her, and she would make sure to pay him back later for it. However…while she was there with him, she may as well try recruiting him. A small smile grew on her face and she ran away quickly from the confused man before looking back at him and meowing. Mamoru stood up fully and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand, wondering what was going on. Luna called out to him once more, and he shrugged his shoulders.

“You want me to follow you, little one? Well, okay. I’ve nothing better to do right now, so why not?”

Pleased the man wasn’t as stupid as he had at first seemed, Luna took the lead, trying to figure out a suitable place to start talking to him. A closed-off lot would be the best place, and would give them some solace, but it couldn’t be too shady, or the man would never go for it. She looked back every so often to make sure the man was still following her, but he was still right behind her each time she looked, though looking very curious. It must have been an interesting seeing a grown man follow behind a small cat, such as she was.

She walked past a dark alleyway leading back into a construction site before she stopped, and doubled back to get down the alleyway. She called out an order with mews to make Mamoru keep following her, and he did…grudgingly, and only because he was extremely curious.

“Do you have a family down this way or something, kitty? I wonder if they need food…how many kittens come in a litter anyway?” Mamoru asked himself rhetorically. “I _might_ have some milk at home…what do kittens eat?”

Luna was touched that the man would think to feed her family if she had given birth to one. It made her feel a little protective over him and she was beginning to understand more and more why Usagi loved the man so much.

Leading him into an open area surrounded by machines and construction material, Luna promptly sat back on her haunches and looked up at the man looking around curiously. He cupped his ears, as if trying to magnify his hearing. “That’s funny,” he murmured. “I don’t _hear_ anything…”

She cleared her throat, gaining Mamoru’s immediate attention. “Did you,” he began hesitantly, “just clear your throat?”

“Hello Mamoru. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Luna.”

Mamoru stared down at the cat, stunned that she could talk. “This must be some kind of joke,” he concluded, looking around. “All right, whoever’s joking around here, come out now! What do you take me as, some kind of fool?”

“Listen to me,” Luna snapped, irritated. “There are no special effects or whatnot allowing me to talk. I am doing just what I appear to be doing: talking. Now you will listen to me, and you will listen well.”

“Let me guess,” Mamoru said, all kindness having left his expression and leaving it ultimately blank. “You’re some magic being from some other planet who’s come down to Earth because there’s some amazing evil out to get the humans and kill us all.”

“A little rough around the edges,” Luna replied, “but a decent enough guess, I’ll gather. I’m sure you don’t believe me, but I can prove—”

“Believe you?” Mamoru burst out, his tone full of disbelief. “How am I supposed to believe you? You’re a _cat_ and cats don’t talk!”

Luna hissed at him and he quieted down, though looking disgruntled all the while. “I told you to listen, and you _will_ listen. Things are about to change for you, no matter what you choose to believe. I just thought you might want to have an answer to what’s going on instead of waking up at night in a cold sweat with dreams of mysterious princesses floating around in your head all the time.”

Mamoru opened his mouth to rebuke her in the middle of her speech, but became speechless when she finally finished. “Wait,” he choked out, “how did you know about my dreams?”

“I know a lot about you, Chiba Mamoru, which is why I would like for you to help me in a cause that will help save the world.”

“This seems like way too much,” Mamoru murmured, frowning slightly. “Saving the world? Wait, does this mean you know who that princess is?”

Luna tilted her head slightly, smiling mysteriously. “What if I said I did, and could tell you exactly who she was?”

Mamoru stared down at her, realizing this was something he would have to see through to the end if nothing else but to save his own sanity. Slowly exhaling, he looked at the cat with a serious expression. “Fine. You have my full attention. Tell me what I can do to help you.”

He could swear he saw the little menace smirk at him, and it kind of ticked him off. “Just remember to pay your own dues, cat.”

“I always pay back in full, Mamoru, dear,” Luna said loftily, waving a paw in the area as she rolled her eyes. “However, there’s not much I can tell you at the moment. There are two more people I need to scout tonight, and I would rather tell you all as one instead of one-by-one. It will make it so much easier to answer questions that way.”

He crossed his hands over his chest as he listened to Luna speak, and nodded his head slightly. “That makes sense. Fine. Just tell me where and when you’d like to meet and I’ll be there, no problem. I don’t have anything particularly important to do today, anyway.”

“I appreciate your cooperation,” Luna said in reply. “If you know of the Hikawa Shrine, I would like for you to be there around seven-thirty to eight o’clock tonight, if at all possible. If you don’t show up, I’ll understand you couldn’t make it, and I’ll find you again at some other point in time.”

Mamoru watched the black cat walk away from him and down the alley, and narrowed his eyes. “This had better be good,” he muttered, sticking his hands into the pockets of his forest-green blazer. “But then again,” he murmured, looking up at the sky, “I can’t help but hope this is going put a stop to it all.”

* * *

 When Usagi got out of school that day, she was feeling utterly exhausted. She hadn’t been in such a young environment for a long while, and she felt completely worn out mentally. The classes themselves were far more relaxing, but it helped that she actually understood what was being said this time around. Usagi also hadn’t been involved with Osaka Naru for a long while – they kept in contact, but it was inconsistent at best as both had found new crowds to join with in high school and university. She needed to reestablish a decent connection with the other girl, but Usagi wasn’t sure she was willing to take that step just yet, or at least she wouldn’t until she figured out how she was going to go about approaching the Dark Kingdom subject. Even if Minako did listen to them, would she really join them? Usagi wasn’t so sure anymore.

It was with great surprise that she saw Luna waiting for her up on the wall connecting to the school gates. Frowning softly, Usagi walked up to the wall and allowed Luna to jump down onto her shoulder. Giving a quick look back to make sure no one took any special attention to the two, Usagi walked away from her school and immediately headed for the train station.

“What’s going on, Luna?” Usagi muttered under her breath, looking around to make sure they weren’t being watched by anyone too intently. “What happened to meeting at the station?”

“Little change of plans,” Luna whispered, trying to act like a normal cat might when laying over a person’s shoulder. “I would like to scout out Rei today, too, if possible. I feel if we get her earlier…”

“I’m not sure it will change anything, but it will certainly be better than forcing her to transform during a battle again, I guess.”

“If we have it our way, that battle won’t even take place.”

The two had already reached the station and were boarding one of the trains before either noticed, having been so deeply involved in their conversation. Usagi stayed standing even though there were other seats available – they only needed to go one stop before they got off to switch to a different train line. Usagi looked out of the window, though there wasn’t really anything to take notice of – subways were like that in that there was nothing around to appreciate but the people around oneself. Unfortunately, Usagi didn’t really care about those around her; if they weren’t in trouble, and weren’t connected to her in some way…she didn’t really care.

_Caring for everyone all the time is a wonderful trait, and I admire my younger self for doing it, but at this stage, it will only get me killed,_ Usagi thought to herself. _I sound really cynical right now…I guess six years has changed me a lot, but I wonder if it was all for the better?_

She turned to look down at the cat sitting at her feet, and her lips tightened as she turned back to look out of the window. _Am I a worse person now than I was then?_

* * *

It took approximately fifteen more minutes for the two to switch train lines and finally exit the Shiba-Kouen station. It had been two years since Usagi had last walked down the way towards Minako’s house, but it wasn’t something she could easily forget. Maybe the youma had known the girl’s true identity, because the senshi had found themselves in that neighborhood time after time. However, Shiba-Kouen was a nice area to visit, and very beautiful to Usagi’s eyes. Luckily, Minako only lived approximately a ten-minute walk away from the station, which made it easier on her already exhausted body.

However, when they made up their plan to visit the other senshi, the two hadn’t thought of what to do if Minako wasn’t home by the time they arrived. Luna paced around in a circle as Usagi leaned against the outer wall running along the house. The young woman tilted her head back casually, looking up at the darkening sky.

“She might have volleyball practice, Luna.”

“Shh!” Luna said, whipping around to look down the street.

Usagi turned to look in the same direction Luna was and noticed a young girl and white cat standing some distance away from them. She narrowed her eyes when she noticed the other girl already transformed into her sailor uniform, as if she were going to battle. Luna stared over at the white cat who bared his teeth at her.

Minako, no, Sailor Venus stepped forward, her sky-blue eyes blazing.

“Who are you, and why have you been trying to track us down?” she called out, clenching her fist as yellow energy slowly fluttered around it.

Luna leaned down to the ground, looking ready to fight the other cat if need be. Usagi turned towards the senshi, frowning. “My name is Tsukino Usagi. I’m come to ask you to join my cause to fight against the Dark Kingdom.”

Sailor Venus frowned, twisting her shoulders slightly towards the white cat’s direction. “You were right, Artemis. The Dark Kingdom did send out some people for us.”

Artemis nodded slightly. “The intelligence I’ve gathered points towards that conclusion. Make sure to take care of them completely, Sailor Venus.”

“Will do,” Sailor Venus said, holding up a finger glowing with yellow energy in Usagi’s direction. The latter flinched back, knowing exactly what the next attack could do. When the yellow energy intensified and began whirling around, Usagi waved her hands in front of her in protest.

“Wait, we’re not your enemies! Listen to us!”

“Crescent,” Sailor Venus murmured, keeping her eyes trained on the other woman. “Beam.”

Usagi watched the energy grow before shooting out of Sailor Venus’s finger with a burst. _I can’t move…I can’t move!_


	2. Chapter 2

Usagi’s eyes widened as the beam burst out of Sailor Venus’s finger and launched straight over the top of her left shoulder. It ripped through her uniform and part of her shoulder, sending Usagi flying back to hit the asphalt hard. Luna stared back at the fallen blonde, her facial features twitching as she kept looking on in horror and disbelief. Sailor Venus and Artemis shifted in surprise, and the former let her hand fall as she stared at Usagi as she lay on the ground.

“Artemis…what is this? I thought they were with the Dark Kingdom…? Why didn’t she dodge it?”

“My intelligence said…” began Artemis hesitantly, eyes wide as he found he couldn’t look away. “I-I just assumed…there was nothing that said otherwise…”

Luna jumped over Usagi and moved in close to look at the young woman’s shoulder, watching a smooth stream of blood fall from her shoulder wound. Usagi grimaced, slowly lifting her right hand to cover her left shoulder as she forced herself to sit up. Her now darkened azure-blue eyes opened to look over at Sailor Venus through a clouded vision. Letting out a large exhale, she grunted as she stood up slowly until she was fully standing. Luna watched the blood trickle down to stain Usagi’s uniform, and whirled around to bare her teeth at the two standing across from them.

“You idiots! She’s a sailor senshi: Sailor Moon! What Dark Kingdom soldier would sit there and allow you to hit her?”

“Luna,” Usagi admonished softly, seeming slightly out of breath. The cat turned to look up at her, eyes centering in on her newly received wound. Usagi smiled down at her gently.

“She missed my vital points intentionally. Probably was going to try to interrogate me later. Right, Sailor Venus?” she finished, pointedly looking at the other blonde.

Sailor Venus twitched, and narrowed her eyes at Usagi. “How can I be sure this isn’t to make a false sense of security? How can you prove you are who you say?”

“Aren’t I proof enough?” cried out Luna furiously. “How many cats do you know that can talk?”

“Luna,” Usagi warned again, and Luna closed her mouth with a snap and ground her teeth. Usagi maintained eye contact with Sailor Venus. “You’re right, I should show you proof.”

She turned away and walked over to where her bag was still leaning against the wall enclosing Sailor Venus’s house. Sailor Venus kept her eyes trained on every movement Usagi made, backing up when the other woman came a bit too close. Maneuvering slowly with her left hand, Usagi gritted her teeth as she dug deep into her school bag. She smiled slightly when she pulled out a locket, and placed it on the middle of the giant red bow adorning her school uniform. Standing up, Usagi looked around her for any other people walking around, and then smiled at Sailor Venus.

“Moon Prism Power,” called out Usagi, watching Sailor Venus’s expression shift to surprise, “Make-up!”

Sailor Venus shielded her eyes as a bright light overtook Usagi’s body, and the senshi of love squinted her eyes to look more closely at the now transformed Sailor Moon. Gasping, she took a step back, mouth hanging open wide. Sailor Moon’s lips formed into a tight smile as she let her right hand drop from her left shoulder’s now healing wound.

Spreading her arms wide with barely even the smallest flicker of pain showing up in her eyes, Sailor Moon stood in front of Sailor Venus with her head held high. “Sailor Venus,” she calmly said, gaining the other’s complete attention. “You may throw as many crescent beams as you  like at me, if only to calm your nerves.”

“What?” the other senshi gasped out, again taken aback. “You’re a senshi…If I’d known before…!”

“I don’t fault you,” Sailor Moon said, cutting through the other blonde’s stuttered words. “A good senshi knows that not everything is always as it seems. Because of that, I will accept whatever you’re willing to throw at me until you feel that I am trustworthy. And shush, Luna,” she directed towards the now irate cat growling at her feet.

“We need her trust,” Sailor Moon reinforced, now speaking down to Luna. “If she doesn’t trust me, then the Dark Kingdom will continue their rule. I will do whatever it takes to ensure this goes well. Besides,” she continued, smiling again at the other senshi. “I trust her, and I know she will not kill me despite her concerns.”

Sailor Venus looked through wide, almost frightened eyes at Sailor Moon as she saw the resolve in the other’s expression. “I’m not going to attack you,” she forced out, teeth gritted. “You’re a senshi…I won’t…”

The senshi of the moon tilted her head slightly, the golden-blonde tresses of her long ponytails up in their meatball hairstyle swinging gently with the motion. “You say you won’t,” she conceded, smiling, “but I know your heart still fears and wavers. I don’t want that fear to hurt what relationships we could develop in the future, so please, ease yourself now.”

Luna scowled at her charge, realizing what the young woman was trying to do but hating it the entire way. There was nothing she could do about the girl, but there was most certainly something she could do about the white cat staring up at Sailor Moon with undetermined disbelief. She walked over to Artemis, and sat a foot away from him, her expression blank.

“It’s as Sailor Moon says,” she muttered only loud enough for him to hear, and he turned his gaze towards her. “We can’t work as a team if you don’t trust us fully. I will not run nor cower, and so you may hit me as much as you like. I am nothing if not loyal and trustworthy.”

Artemis stood up on all four of his legs, mouth gaping open. “No, Luna…I’m not going to do it…”

“Do it, Artemis…and know I will never forgive you if you back away from me like a coward.”

Sailor Moon gestured with a nudge of her head for Sailor Venus to look down at the two cats. Sailor Venus looked down at Artemis, and turned to slowly look back over at the other senshi, sky-blue eyes slowly filling with tears as resolve and determination swept across her face. She looked down at her hands, and then back up at Sailor Moon, whose smile greatened.

“Hurry,” said the latter softly, “before we gather an audience.”

Sailor Venus looked down at her hands again, eyes brimming with unshed tears. Yellow energy slowly swirled around in her right hand, and she focused all of it towards her index finger as she lifted it to point it at Sailor Moon. The yellow energy took on more and more density, slowly causing its color to turn orange. Two tears slid down Sailor Venus’s cheeks as she pointed it straight at Sailor Moon’s shoulder. Sailor Moon looked behind her and noticed the standing house, and so she quickly jumped over Sailor Venus’s head to land on the other side, in front of a small growth of trees. At this gesture, another tear fell down Sailor Venus’s cheek, and she closed her eyes and gathered her strength. “Crescent…” she started, gathering more and more energy.

Spinning around quickly and pointing her index finger straight at Sailor Moon, she cried out, “Beam!”

The two cats and Sailor Venus stared as the beam zoomed straight through Sailor Moon’s left shoulder, flipping her around to land on the asphalt hard. The senshi with a large red bow affixed to her hair watched through her watery vision as Sailor Moon let out a small hiss of pain, and slowly but steadily pushed herself back up to her feet. Sailor Moon didn’t even lift a hand to cover her left shoulder, but instead turned around and stood still in front of Sailor Venus, awaiting the next blow. Her easy acceptance of the damage and pain the other senshi was causing struck Sailor Venus harder than any admission ever could. The tears fell without a struggle now, and she clasped her left hand over her mouth, unable to take her sight off of the senshi who had come to her with little misgivings at all.

Luna ground her teeth hard as she glared at Artemis, whose face became shadowed as he stared down at the ground. About to open her mouth to yell at him again, she was taken by surprise when the white cat rushed forward, and slammed a paw against the side of her head and sent her rolling across the ground. Stars circled around her when she opened her eyes, the pain burning the side of her head. She blearily looked over at Artemis, face grim as she saw him jump up high and tackle her down. Luna refused to let out even a small whimper when she was sent flying into the wall.

Sailor Moon frowned slightly as she saw Luna get taken down, and she looked over at Sailor Venus. “Again.”

Sailor Venus looked up, barely managing to shake her head. Sailor Moon narrowed her eyes. “We will do this again, and again, until you no longer have any doubt. Now, again!”

She finally smiled again when yellow energy reluctantly spiraled around Sailor Venus’s index finger again. _That’s my girl…_

The process of Sailor Venus shooting Sailor Moon and having the latter rise back up slower and slower each time stopped short of ten minutes later, with the former collapsing to the ground, her body trembling. Sailor Moon still laid lying on the ground, her wounds not healing fast enough for her to even attempt rising again. She forced a small smile to her face, looking over at the mentally younger senshi with concern. Only from using a great amount of effort was she able to turn her head over to look at Luna lying on the ground, barely conscious but seemingly breathing okay. Artemis’s head was lying on his paws as she stared at Luna, but she could see his body trembling as well. She felt her consciousness fade as her body forced her into a state of rest so it could heal more rapidly. She barely heard Sailor Venus’s cry of distress as she sunk under and saw darkness.

* * *

 When Usagi awoke again, she found herself in a room cast in darkness, with the moon’s rays of light shedding a beam that seemed to cover only her. She pushed off the large comforter on her and looked around blearily, wondering where she was and what time it was. As soon as she sat up, pain raced through her body and she gasped, her hand reaching up quickly to clutch at her shirt. Peering down at herself, she saw several bandages rolled around her appendages, and Usagi swallowed. Luna, too, she noticed, was covered in bandages but as she was sleeping soundly, Usagi didn’t want to wake her, but realized she didn’t have much of a choice.

“Luna,” she muttered, wincing as she lifted her leg to poke a toe into the cat’s temple. Ruby-red eyes slowly opened to focus on Usagi, though Luna didn’t appear to want to move otherwise. Sighing softly as she pushed herself up slowly to stand, Luna turned to look around the room, her night vision kicking in as she came back to reality.

“Seven o’clock,” murmured the cat under her voice, and she limped over – very slowly at that – towards Usagi. The latter picked up the cat and held her closely to her chest, softly stroking a hand down the feline’s body.

“I’m sorry to have involved you in that, Luna… I just don’t want there to be any leftover bitterness in case something goes wrong in future battles.”

“I know,” muttered the cat. “Your planning and foresight is shaky at best, but getting better. I’m not much of a guardian for you if I don’t support your beliefs, and believe me you, I do.”

Usagi pressed her face into Luna’s fur, fire burning in her eyes as unshed tears began to form. “Thank you…so much. I love you so much, Luna.”

Luna didn’t reply, but silently flicked up her tail to gently slide across her charge’s cheeks. The two shared a small moment of privacy before it was interrupted by a door slowly creaking open. They both looked to see a meekly-looking Aino Minako peek her head in. Seeing that the two of them were already awake, Minako flicked on the lights and looked over at them, her eyes full of wary concern. Usagi and Luna waited as she opened her mouth a few times to say something, before shutting it tightly. However, they were completely floored when her torso bent down at a ninety-degree angle towards them, her breathing tight. The Lunar pair gaped at the action and continued to stare further when Artemis walked in slowly and did much the same.

“What?” Usagi managed to gasp out. “What are you doing? Raise your head!”

Luna also appeared a bit stupefied when they continued to bow down to the two of them. “What has gotten into you two?”

“We apologize,” came the muffled voice of Minako. “I…we…I can’t say how sorry I am for doing that to you! For not believing in you! I…please accept my apology!” she finished, raising her head and peering deep into Usagi’s eyes.

Artemis said nothing aloud, though everyone could clearly see the agony showing in his eyes. Usagi turned her gaze away, swallowing again to speak:

“How do you feel? Do you think you can trust our word?”

“We trust you,” Minako mumbled softly, eyes downcast towards the floor. “I’ve…never known anyone to go out of their way to prove a point like that, but…”

“But?”

“Never, ever ask me to do that again!” Minako cried out, tightening her hands into fists. “Seeing your pain and knowing I was the cause of it…and knowing that you were on our side the moment you transformed but attacking anyway… I’ve erred you, very much,” she continued, looking up shyly. “If you would, please allow me to fight by your side! If you would have me, I swear to fight for and with you!”

Usagi blinked slowly as she stared over at the other blonde. She looked down at an awed Luna, and frowned thoughtfully. “I want you by my side,” she began cautiously, “but I want you to know there may come times of great pain, and times of seeming betrayals. This is not for the faint of heart; are you sure you want to fight alongside me? I could still be that Dark Kingdom croon you thought me to be.”

“You’ve proved your unrelenting strength of heart and soul to me, Tsukino-san,” Minako replied formally and seriously. “You have earned not only my trust, but my definite loyalty. I will fight by your side, should you have me.”

The bedridden woman chuckled softly, smiling as she looked back over at Minako. “Looking forward to working with you, Minako.”

Minako felt as if a boulder had been lifted off her shoulders, such was the amount of relief she felt. “I won’t let you down,” she said ecstatically. “Please tell me when you need my assistance!”

Artemis nodded to express similar sentiments and then looked up at Luna, who rolled her eyes to express her exasperation. “Oh come off it, Artemis. We’ve dealt worse to each other before.”

Suddenly, the black cat’s ears perked straight up as she realized what time it was. However, in her state as she was, she wasn’t sure she could make it to the promised meeting with Mamoru in time. Usagi looked down at her. “What’s wrong, Luna?”

“There’s someone I made an appointment to meet with,” Luna began, voice low as she quickly tried to think of a way to get over to the shrine in time, “but I’m not sure I can make it over there in time.”

The other three present in the room acknowledged this new information silently, before Artemis spoke up saying, “I’ll take care of that. Just tell me where you were supposed to meet this person, and I’ll make sure to get there as fast as I can.”

Luna fell silent at his declaration, and both the cats turned to look at their charges when the two young women stiffened up, each narrowing their eyes and looking out the window. Usagi frowned. “There’s a youma loose in the city…but it’s a little far from here.”

“You leave that to me,” said Minako this time. “You need to rest and are more than welcome to stay here. I’ll deal with the youma.”

“No,” Usagi denied her. “I can’t stay here and intrude upon you and your family much more than I already am.”

“Understood,” Minako said, nodding. “Then you must allow yourself enough grace to take your time to get home. You can rest assured that I will take care of the youma.”

Luna and Usagi looked at one another, and Usagi nodded, somewhat grudgingly. “Well, all right then… I’ll leave it in your hands, Minako.”

* * *

 Usagi walked down the street back to her house while holding Luna in her hands and quickly trying to come up with different excuses as to why she was wearing bandages and why her uniform had a giant tear in it at the shoulder. She was pretty much stuck on walking into a parked car or falling down the stairs – her excuses were just that pathetic. In addition, what excuse would allow her to bring Luna into the house as a pet? It’s not like she could remember what she had said six years ago and she had certainly not been in such a position where she was wounded from head to toe. Ah, and not to mention her horrible algebra test from the day before she’d arrived in the past! She shook her head hard while knowing she was in a ton of trouble.

Luna had fallen asleep on the train ride, and the blonde only wished she could have had that luxury – the stupid cat. Her expression sobered when she thought about how earnest Minako had been to help her out, and how it seemed so odd to have someone vow their allegiance to you. While she had known meeting with Minako this time as opposed to the first time would be different, she hadn’t realized just how far she would need to go to prove herself this time around. True, the first time around, the senshi had already been around for months and had formed a good reputation, and at this point, the only senshi that was known to be active was Sailor Venus. She could certainly remember how shocked she had been when she’d found out how many other senshi existed, and who knew if it was just limited to Japan? Maybe there were senshi from other galaxies, too, like the Sailor Stars! There could be a…plethora, for lack of a better word, of senshi all across the universe! Wow, that was somewhat enlightening and demoralizing to Usagi.

She turned down the last street going towards her house when a voice called out to her. Turning, she saw a panting Artemis running towards her. Usagi watched mystified as Artemis caught his breath and mustered out,

“It’s Sailor Venus! She’s having trouble with the youma!”

“What?” Usagi questioned incredulously. Sailor Venus was a strong senshi, and she hadn’t felt that much dark energy coming from its direction earlier. “What are you talking about, Artemis?”

Artemis took in another deep breath, noticing the still sleeping form of Luna in Usagi’s arms. He cringed slightly as he turned to look back up at Usagi. “It’s one of the Dark Kingdom guards! I don’t know why, but he found out that Sailor Venus was trying to kill his youma and appeared to fight her! She’s in trouble, and…”

She watched his head fall down in shame and figured he must have been remembering what took place earlier. Looking at the bundle sleeping in her arms, she narrowed her eyes and nodded slightly. “I’ll help,” she told the dejected cat. “I have a bad feeling about this, and I’m not going to leave Sailor Venus to fight that guy alone. But I need you to keep Luna safe for me.”

“I’ll keep her safe,” he said, iron determination lacing his every word. “You can bet on that.”

“All right,” Usagi conceded, laying Luna down in a small patch of grass lining the low wall next to her. “Then I’m entrusting her to you. Don’t worry,” she said soothingly, smiling down at him, “I’ll get Sailor Venus out of this.”

Artemis watched as Usagi smiled gently and ran past him up the hill, and swallowed hard, knowing her wounds must have still been healing and hurting her even then. He turned to look up at the sleeping Luna, and jumped up onto the wall to rest beside her. When she stirred slightly, Artemis nuzzled her face slightly and continued laying there, making sure no one even dared to disturb her. As he lay beside Luna, his thoughts shifted over to when he had run across the city to make sure to catch Luna’s contact and tell him or her of the situation. When he’d arrived, however, no one had appeared to be waiting for anyone there, and after twenty minutes of waiting, he had gone back to assist Sailor Venus in her fight. He was suddenly very worried about Usagi and wondered if she would be okay.

* * *

 Sailor Moon jumped across a large gap in a wall, breathing hard and cursing under her breath as her wounds seemed to light up on fire. She jumped down from the wall and hit the ground rolling, muscles in her jaw tightening as she pushed herself up from the ground. The wounded senshi looked across from her position at the store next to the OSAP building, and steeled her facial features. She bent down close the ground and sprung up high into the air into a front flip, landing on the other side of the road. She went down the alley to the left of the building towards the back, and glanced up to see a large window up high in the wall. Sailor Moon looked at the brick wall in front of her, touching it gently with her white gloves. “Here we go,” she murmured, looking up at the high window again. She bent down low again, and burst up from the ground in a high-powered jump, landing the window sill and looking in. What she saw made her clench her teeth in anger:

A nearly unconscious Sailor Venus was hanging from the wall with the youma’s long arm extended to hold her at her neck. Sailor Moon’s eyes flicked over to look down at the Dark Kingdom general, whom she immediately recognized as Jadeite. What was he doing there, she wondered, shifting her eyes back over to take in Sailor Venus’s condition – her uniform was tattered, and the large red bow she wore to tie up her hair long gone. Her skirt was half-torn off and her heels scattered across the floor. The most intolerable part to Sailor Moon, though, was the lack of emotion on Sailor Venus’s face, as if she had already given herself up. Jadeite would pay, she resolutely promised, turned her frosty glare over to the blond general. _You will pay._

She glanced up to see a chandelier hanging from the roof, and jumped over from the ledge to grab hold of the edge of the it and swing down in between a surprised Jadeite and a disgruntled youma. She spun around, throwing her leg up high to hit the youma’s neck with a spinning back kick, and forcing energy out of her hands to send it flying back far away from her. Sailor Moon turned her head to look at Sailor Venus fall to the ground, but had to quickly duck when she saw Jadeite throw a punch at her in her peripheral vision. Sliding in a circle on the ground, she hit Jadeite with a sweeping low kick before pushing herself up from the floor and quickly throwing another high kick to connect with his jaw, sending him staggering back a few steps.

The claws of the youma’s hand brushed against her arm, and she gritted her teeth as she shifted to her left, quickly reached a hand up to grab her tiara and send it flying at the youma in a burst of light. The extended arm fell down to the ground, wriggling around like a dead fish. Her gaze flashed back over to Jadeite as she barely dodged another right hook from him. He sent a knee straight into her abdomen, making her see stars as her breath was forced out of her lungs. Stunned a bit, Sailor Moon didn’t dodge the full side kick aimed again at her abdomen and she was sent flying across the room to hit a wall. As she slid down, she suddenly felt all her wounds from earlier flame into life again, and she was a bit slow to rise up from the ground. Another clawed hand zoomed straight at her, grabbing her by the neck and hefting her up high on the wall.

Crap, she thought, struggling hard to loosen the youma’s grip on her. Jadeite cackled at her as she struggled, looking as smug as ever. “Now,” he said smoothly, touching the side of her bodice. “Who are you? I know about Sailor Venus, but you’re new.”

Sailor Moon aimed a well-placed kick at his face, sending his head flying back and him sporting a lovely, bloody nose. “Go screw yourself,” she spat out, glaring down at him.

He glared up at her, his ice-blue eyes as frosty as the tundra. “You’ll pay for that, dearly,” he said, turning to look at his youma. “Give me one of them.”

She watched on somewhat curiously as a dark vortex spiraled into existence and spat out a young woman probably in her early twenties. Her eyes widened when she saw Jadeite lean down and kiss her fully on lips and groped her breasts. “Why you…”

Jadeite smirked. “I was just going to leave them here, but you’ve pissed me off, Sailor Whatever. Think I’ll take all these little human girls and make them mine. Let them have a taste of the future to come.”

“You…don’t you dare!” Sailor Moon yelled out angrily, struggling hard against the claws binding her neck to the wall. “If you touch her again, I swear…”

“Touch her?” replied the general. “No, no, I think I’ll do far more than that,” he continued, taking the shirt off of the woman and groping her hard.

“Let her go!” Sailor Moon screamed out, panic starting to override her logic. “She has nothing to do with this!”

“You’re right, but you’ve annoyed me. I have to get some kind of enjoyment out of this. Before I kill you, I’ll allow you the luxury of watching me rape this woman over and over again.”

Sailor Moon watched as Jadeite continued stripping the woman until she was completely naked, her body trembling as her anger grew and grew. Realizing she was completely helpless in her situation, and with Sailor Venus down with a very low probability of waking up anytime soon, bile soon rose up into her throat as she found there was nothing she could do. Unwanted tears filled her eyes, and she let out a scream of anger. Power rushed from her body and her eyes opened wide as she felt the building start to shake. Soon enough, she was falling down to the ground as Jadeite and the youma clutched at their ears.

Sailor Moon stared at them bewildered, and then remembered that jewels adorning her spooned hair were sound amplifiers as well. That suited her just fine and she stood up, eyes burning with anger. She turned to look at Sailor Venus as the other woman rose from the ground, probably having been awakened by the amplified sound of the scream. Sailor Moon shifted closer to a clearly shaken Sailor Venus, whispering,

“How are you holding up? Do you think you can still fight?”

“I can keep going,” came the raspy reply. Sailor Venus looked down for a fraction of a second before glancing up again training her eyes on the youma. “I said I would take care of this…and I botched up the job. I’m sorry.”

Sailor Moon chuckled, and clasped a hand on Sailor Venus’s shoulder. “That’s why we work as a team. I never should have let you go at this alone. I’ll need your help with these two, so show me what you’ve got!”

Sailor Venus glanced quickly over at Sailor Moon and then lifted her head as strength flooded back into her body. “No problem!”

The two senshi jumped out of the way of an oncoming youma arm and Sailor Moon flipped over Jadeite’s head, slamming a knife hand attack at the arm holding the girl before throwing the back of her fist into his face. She caught the naked woman and turned to face Jadeite with a venomous expression. “Take care of that youma, Sailor Venus! I’ll deal with Jadeite!”

“Roger!” the other blonde replied, jumping up to throw a kick at the youma’s face and flipping around to point her index finger in its direction. “Crescent Beam!”

The beam zoomed straight through the youma’s chest, and Sailor Venus followed up with an open palm thrust straight at its torso. Shifting back, she held up both of her index fingers, the energy swirling around them quickly and condensing tightly, turning the color into a dark orange. Aiming at the oncoming youma, she yelled out, “Double Crescent Beam!” and the energy blasted away from her fingers straight into the heart and head of the youma. It screamed as its entire body burst into ashes, and Sailor Venus turned to look over to see how Sailor Moon was doing.

The aforementioned senshi dodged another of Jadeite’s kicks and forced lunar energy into her hands to counter against the large ball of dark energy he sent at her. After diffusing it completely, she was forced to dodge yet another of his attacks, only to land one of her own high-powered kicks to his side. Jadeite staggered again and she sped forward quickly, connecting another knife hand attack to his neck this time, and a spinning low kick to at his knees. Jadeite cried out as he fell to the ground, and he quickly rolled away from the heel she sent flying straight down at where his head had been. Sailor Moon narrowed her eyes as he opened a dark vortex and moved to jump inside.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she yelled, sliding forward while at the same time grabbing her tiara, focusing magic into it, and throwing it into the vortex after her. The following scream echoed out of the vortex right before it shut completely.

Sailor Venus slowly walked over to kneel next to the now fallen Sailor Moon, who was breathing in and out harshly. The former watched as the building, deformed by the presence of dark energy, slowly faded back into the jewelry store it had been before. She noticed the young, naked woman and walked over to her, arranging her clothes so that they laid over her sleeping form and covered everything as much as possible.

Sailor Moon heard a few groans, and turned to look over at the now awakening people. She made eye contact with Sailor Venus, who nodded in return, before both jumped up through the building and vanished out of the window.

The two didn’t stop running until they had reached a high building approximately two hundred feet away. Sailor Moon sunk down to the ground, the events from the early evening and that night taking their toll on her. Sailor Venus kneeled down next to her, sweat pouring down her face as she rushed to catch her breath. Swallowing, she looked over at Sailor Moon, concerned.

“Are you all right, Sailor Moon?”

“I’m fine,” she answered softly, eyes narrowed in thought. She turned to look back at Sailor Venus. “Have you seen him before?”

“No,” came the reply. “But the youma was nothing. I took care of it simply enough – it was just the tag teaming that wore me down.”

The senshi of the moon flicked her gaze around as she thought about what it meant if Jadeite was out helping the youma. She clucked her tongue and sat up straight while looking up at the moon. “When I sent you out here to fight,” she began, “I hadn’t expected him to show up.”

“Do you know who he is?” Sailor Venus questioned curiously.

Sailor Moon frowned, avoiding the other senshi’s gaze. “Yes. He isn’t that strong, really, but unfortunately more than we can handle by ourselves. As soon as we can get a third member, we can take him down for good. Until then, if you see him, no matter what happens or what he does, take down the youma first and _then_ , and only then, fight him.”

“All right,” agreed Sailor Venus. She looked down, suddenly looking shy as she asked, “May I ask you a question?”

Sailor Moon turned to look at her, eyebrows raised. Sailor Venus smiled hesitantly. “How old are you, exactly?”

“Huh?” Sailor Moon replied, surprised. “I’m twen…fourteen.”

“You’re fourteen? We’re the same age then! You’re really mature for your age! I could have sworn you were at least seventeen or so.”

“Oh…?”

Sailor Moon flicked her gaze away, thinking of how ironic her situation was at that moment. Her friends had told her she was still as immature as ever when she went to the party, and now she was being told she seemed incredibly mature. Irony at its best, she supposed.

A jolt ran through her and she stood up immediately to gaze across the city in the opposite direction. It must have been dark energy, because Sailor Venus was doing the same, exact thing. “Another youma?” Sailor Moon muttered to herself. “Let’s go, Sailor Venus.”

“Right behind you!”

* * *

 Approximately two hours later, the two were trudging down the path to where the cats were located, each completely spent after finding and exterminating not just one more youma, but three. Usagi couldn’t remember ever having fought so many youma in one night, but it definitely made more sense for Jadeite to have a high amount of youma gather energy. She could only recall fighting one at a time over a period of days and weeks, but back then, she wasn’t nearly developed enough in her powers to actually sense the dark energy from a distance. As she glanced at Minako at her right, she realized how strong Sailor Venus actually was to be able to sense dark energy from afar, even if it only at its densest.

When they came upon the cats’ positions, she smiled when she saw Luna looking up at her, both annoyed and relieved at the same time. Usagi picked up Luna while Minako picked up Artemis in turn. The former turned to look at Minako head-on.

“You did good out there, Minako. You’ve got a real sense of strategy in battle.”

Minako flushed out of embarrassment upon hearing the praise. “Your fighting style is really fluid, and your attacks are really quick and fast. I can’t believe how quickly you could charge up your tiara and throw it. Really amazing.”

Usagi’s eyes widened, and red flooded her cheeks. It was rare that she ever heard praise from anyone, and she knew she still had a long way to go before she was an efficient fighter. “Thank you…I couldn’t have defeated them without you.”

“All in a hard day’s work for a team, right?” came the enthusiastic response, to which Usagi smiled.

“Right.”

Minako looked down at Artemis and then gave another quick smile to the other blonde. “We’d better get going. We should be able to get a train back home since it’s not too, too late.”

“Be careful,” Usagi said as they turned to go. They waved and started down the street towards the train station.

Luna watched them go before shouting, “Hold on!”

The two turned around again, surprised. Luna squirmed to sit up straighter in Usagi’s arms as she said, “Try to see if you can make time tomorrow. We’re going to try scouting a couple of other people if we can.”

Minako waved  her hand to show she understood. “Roger! We’ll make sure we’re free!”

Usagi watched them go down the hill, and looked down at the cat in her arms. When the other two were completely out of sight, she whispered,

“Luna, we’ve got a serious problem on our hands.”


	3. Chapter 3

“This is the first time we’ve seen each other in such a calm setting for a while, isn’t it, Tsukino-san?”

“Yeah, life sucks lately.”

The two, Aino Minako and Tsukino Usagi, sat across from each other drinking their preferred beverages in a small café. Two and a half weeks had passed since the two had last seen each other, due to the count of youma rising across the season and Usagi having been grounded for her dismal appearance. With being so busy, neither had been able to take the time to scout out the other senshi, but that would change soon enough. Usagi’s parents had let up on her grounding sentence and she was now free to roam the city unrestrained, and as the wave of youma was slowing down, Minako was also free to do a little reconnaissance.

Usagi set down her glass softly on the table, and turned her head to look out the large glass window to her right. Sinking back into her booth, she flicked her gaze over at Minako again.

“We have two senshi we can go scout out right now,” she said, reaching into her school bag and pulling out two photos.

Sliding them over so Minako could see, Usagi rested her chin gently on her upraised hands. Speaking in a much lower voice, “The one on the left is Sailor Mercury, and the one on the right would be Sailor Mars. The faster we get them on our side, the faster we can take care of our newest issue: Jadeite.”

She and Luna had covered a few theories as to why the Dark Kingdom soldier had appeared in that first battle. One, they presumed, was that this dimension was one where the generals actively participated in their energy capturing schemes, and that it was only natural that he had been there. Another idea dealt with the idea of the Dark Kingdom no longer underestimating the power of the Sailor Senshi, thus the participation of the generals and the high increase of youma. Yet another idea concerned the Dark Kingdom having far less energy to work with at the beginning, and so they were trying that much harder to look for both energy and the ginzuishou. The last idea was negotiable on both Usagi and Luna’s parts, but that the Dark Kingdom wanted the Sailor Senshi out of the picture quickly. However, the Lunar couple was wary of this last thought because were that actually the case, the Dark Kingdom would have been actively hunting each senshi down, which was far from actuality.

Minako focused her sky-blue eyes heavily on the two photos, frowning ever so softly. “What’s the possibility of us getting both of them right now?”

“Sailor Mars, for one, deals mostly with spiritual phenomena. She attends the T*A Private Girls Academy, and lives over at the Hikawa Shrine.”

“She lives there?”

“She’s a miko for the shrine, and helps out her grandfather who’s the priest of the shrine. She’s got a fiery personality and doesn’t tolerate much stupidity, so watch your words in front of her. Since she has spiritual powers, she can also sense out the Dark Kingdom youma a lot easier than us as well.”

Usagi watched as Minako switched her attention over to the other picture and picked it up for a closer inspection. The red-bowed blonde set the photo down and looked back up at Usagi.

“What about Sailor Mercury? How do we find her?”

“Sailor Mercury is a genius, in more ways than one. She’ll have many gadgets in her arsenal that will help pinpoint out various youma. She can help us locate their weak points a lot easier, and there will be a lot less wear-and-tear with her on our team. As for how we find her, she just transferred into my school and I know for a fact she has cram school today. It will start pretty soon, so we should go for her first.”

“All right then! I’m looking forward to getting a new member on our team!”

“Prepare yourself,” Usagi warned as she stood up. “Their trust won’t come easily.”

Minako frowned slightly and walked behind Usagi as they went up to the cashier to pay for their drinks and then exit the café. Moving forward to walk beside the meatball-haired blonde, she maintained the same pace as they walked down the street, a question buzzing around in her head all the while. Turning to look over at Usagi, she asked,

“How do you know so much about these girls, Tsukino-san? It’s almost as if you’ve met and spoken to them personally.”

Usagi caught her stumble just in time and took in a deep breath. “Oh, well, no…to be a good senshi, you have to scout out possible additions to the team properly, you know.”

“Oh that’s true,” the other blonde agreed with a smile on her face. “That’s how you found me, isn’t it? I’m sorry about asking so much, but your insight is really amazing, Tsukino-san. I hope to be as good as you in the future!”

“Uh…yeah. Sure,” Usagi choked out, making sure not to make eye-contact with her companion.

Who on earth was she to talk so highly about the duties of a Sailor Senshi? The only reason she knew anything was because Luna had lectured her over and over about it. She had also forgotten how abnormally perceptive the Senshi of Venus was – she was a senshi for a good reason, after all. Working with the only other blonde over the past few weeks had been an enriching experience for Usagi, because she had never really had the chance to work one-on-one with the other girl. Usagi also found out that her relationship with Minako this time around was entirely different as opposed to the first time the two had met. As she recalled it, _she_ had been the one to have adored Sailor Venus with a passion, and this time, Minako was the one adoring _her_. Not that Usagi hadn’t been respected before, – she definitely had – but the respect Minako was paying her now was a bit much for her to take.

That was another thing that bothered her, Usagi realized. The fact that Minako felt the need to call her by her last name and with a suffix was quite bothersome. It placed them almost in a senior and junior relationship, which they most definitely weren’t. Well, truth be told, Usagi was senior to _this_ particular Minako in experience and ability, but at this point, they were still the same age. The only real difference was the fact Usagi had already dealt with everything before. Usagi had asked her teammate to just call her by her first name, but that had ended up with Minako somewhat blatantly ignoring her pleas. This was just one of the peculiarities Usagi was going to have to deal with, she supposed.

_I miss the close friendship I used to have with Minako…_

The two were closing in on the cram school Usagi knew her friend was attending. Perhaps she couldn’t remember the simplest details concerning what youma had been where and when they’d been there, but she could definitely remember how she had met all of her friends. When Usagi and Minako approached the school, they were happily surprised to see the two Lunar cats waiting loyally for them. Luna frowned up at Usagi, her tail flicking in irritation.

“What took you so long? The youma has already unveiled itself.”

Usagi frowned slightly and glared over at the school. “I see. That would explain the radiating dark energy coming from the school.”

“Sailor Mercury’s in there, right?” Minako said, her expression serious. “Let’s go take care of that youma, Tsukino-san, and help her out.”

Usagi sighed softly at the use of her last name once more, but nodded slightly. “You’re right – there’s no time left.”

The two blondes looked at one another, nodded curtly, and were about to run into the building when Luna shouted, “Wait, Usagi! The pen, you forgot the pen!”

Usagi turned to look at Luna, and gave a shaky smile. “Oh, yeah, I guess we’ll be needing that, huh? Sorry about that Luna,” she said, apologizing as she bent over to pick up the transformation pen for Sailor Mercury. “We’ll take care of that youma in a jiffy.”

Luna sighed softly as the two girls ran into the building and out of sight. Looking over at Artemis, she shook her head. “I honestly don’t know what to do with that girl.”

“At least she’s more mentally there than Minako,” Artemis stated with a grin on his face. “She’s really mature for her age. I wish Minako could think ahead as far as Usagi seems able to. Has she always been this astute?”

“Astute?” Luna asked, her eyebrow twitching from her incredulousness. “Are we talking about the same girl here, Artemis?”

“Well, sure,” he responded, slightly confused. “Her battle techniques are dead-on. Plus she always gives Minako inspiring advice, not to mention that she has very good self-control. Quite admirable.”

Luna stared at him, mouth agape as he said everything, and slapped her paw to her face when he finished. “Well, I suppose all those years had to do something for her,” she deadpanned, eyes narrowed as she stared at the school.

“Uh,” Artemis started hesitantly, “did I miss something?”

* * *

  Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus burst into a room at the top of the stairs, each one glancing around at all the students lying on the floor, their energy having already been stolen. Sailor Moon looked around the room, aghast at how many people had been hurt because of their tardiness. Sailor Venus on the other hand glared at the youma who held up a young girl with dark turquoise-blue hair. The youma appeared to be having trouble gathering energy from the girl.

“What is this!” the youma cried out indignantly. “But you have your disk! I should be able to take energy from you like taking candy from a baby!”

Sailor Moon gritted her teeth as she glared over at the youma as well. Spinning the transformation stick in her hands, she chuckled, gaining the youma’s full attention.

“Something funny, ball-head?”

“It’s Sailor Moon to you, freak,” she retorted coldly, clenching her fist over the pen hard before handing it over to Sailor Venus. “And trust me, the only funny thing here is how stupid you must be. Obviously if you can’t take her energy, there must be something _wrong_.”

On her last word, she and Sailor Venus shifted into action, with Sailor Moon heading straight for the youma and Sailor Venus targeting the other senshi-to-be. Sailor Moon’s foot connected strongly against the youma’s shoulder, sending the monster skidding back a few feet. The youma snarled at the senshi of the moon, who in turn clenched her first tightly.

“You’ll pay for your wrong deeds,” Sailor Moon promised icily, her azure-blue eyes freezing.

The youma smirked, its hideous mouth curling up and around. “What, are you going to take care of me, fancy pants?”

“That’s right,” came the icy remark. “In the name of justice, I will cause you suffering like none other.”

Sailor Moon jumped forward with a quick high kick, and slammed her foot into the side of the youma’s face, sending it flying across the room and into the back wall. Reaching up to get her tiara, she stiffened when she sensed a rise in the amount of dark energy within the area. Turning around, Sailor Moon gasped slightly when she saw two more youma standing right next to the Dark Kingdom General Jadeite. Jadeite gave a chilling laugh, and Sailor Moon turned to face him fully, saving part of her attention on the slowly rising youma behind her.

“What are you doing here?” she grunted out, flicking her attention back and forth behind and in front of herself. “I don’t remember calling for more of the Dumb Kroony Squad.”

“Oh, you’re a funny girl,” Jadeite mocked. “You’ve been ruining my plans for weeks now. Queen Beryl is starting to think me unsightly.”

“If it helps, I sure think you’re unsightly.”

Jadeite’s smirk quickly shifted into a frown as he glowered at Sailor Moon, who for the most part ignored him. He grew even more angry as he saw what she had turned her attention towards: a new sailor senshi alongside of the other brat, Sailor Venus.

“Another one!” he growled out, gritting his teeth. “Where do you things come from, the dirt?”

Sailor Moon shifted her attention back towards Jadeite, grinning. “Sounds like a personal problem to me!”

She noticed the youma behind her start to move and she quickly jumped out of the way and over towards her team. Sailor Moon slid over towards Sailor Venus and Sailor Mercury, commending Sailor Venus for her quick actions with a small nod and smile. Sailor Venus beamed when she was silently praised while Sailor Mercury looked on with a hint of confusion and bewilderment. Sailor Moon smiled at the latter as well.

“Don’t worry, Sailor Mercury,” she said, drawing the other girl’s attention. “We’re in this together. We’ll talk more later but right now, we have to take care of these monsters. Do you mind using your Shabon Spray for us? Just call out the words.”

Sailor Mercury slowly turned her attention back to look at the youma and Jadeite, and she nodded hesitantly. Gathering energy into her hands, she yelled out, “Shabon Spray!”

Sailor Venus looked around in wonder as the room grew more and more foggy, hiding both their presences and the youmas’ as well. Sailor Moon, on the other hand, ignored the change in atmosphere and continued staring pointedly at where she knew Jadeite was standing. She flicked her hand out to grab her scepter and when nothing materialized in her hand, she blankly looked at her hand and then suddenly felt stupid when she realized where she was again.

_I’ll just have to do this the hard way_ , she thought to herself, feeling somewhat annoyed at her predicament. Quickly gesturing for Sailor Venus to guide Sailor Mercury and fight against the youma, she faced forward again, her eyes a piercing blue. Then without another moment’s thought, Sailor Moon dashed forward towards Jadeite, or where she had assumed him to be. When she raced forward and threw her leg out to kick at him, Sailor Moon stumbled slightly as she slid through nothingness. A cackle from behind her alerted Sailor Moon to his new location, and she quickly crossed her arms over her chest before Jadeite’s fist slammed into her. The power of the punch sent her down to the ground hard, the wind knocked out of her.

  _Damn it_ , was all she could think when she realized Mercury’s Shabon Spray was hindering her just as much as the enemy. _I can’t see a damned thing!_

 A hard kick to her torso threw her across the room and crashing into a wall. Pain pulsed through Sailor Moon’s head and body as clutched her arms around her stomach. Her azure-blue eyes widened imperceptively, and a series of coughs racked her body. By this time, the mist had finally dissipated and she could now see where the Dark Kingdom general was standing, as well as the three youma fighting the other two senshi across the room. She spared them the smallest of glances, and realized they needed a bit of her help. However, there was nothing she could to help them until she was rid of the nuisance right in front of her. Sailor Moon took in a gulp of air as she slowly stood up, glaring at Jadeite.

 “Why are you here?” she heaved out, her voice a little hoarse. “What, no faith in your hired help?”

 “None whatsoever, now that you guys are sticking your little noses into everything,” Jadeite sneered. “Really, Sailor Moon, do you things just pop out of the dirt and say hi to the new world?”

 “Your joke is a little stale now,” Sailor Moon retorted, flicking her hand in front of her as she continued glaring, before realizing what she had done yet again.

 She instead pointed her finger vehemently at Jadeite, eyes almost boring through him. “How about we make this quick, Jadeite? I kick your butt and you run home with your tail between your legs and leave the Earth alone. How’s that?”

 “I’m all for hastiness, Sailor Moon, but that will not be taking place anytime soon.”

  Just as he got the last word out of his mouth, Jadeite sped forward towards her, fist wrenched back before he sent it flying at her face. She ducked and swirled around him, throwing up a high kick towards his own face. Jadeite ducked it and began throwing a series of punches and kicks at her. Using the experience in fighting she had received from sparring against Sailor Jupiter in her time period, Sailor Moon pushed herself back quickly to make room and slowly started maneuvering through all the blows. Her eyes flicked up and down and from side to side as her hands raced to block or guide away his attacks. It took her a while, but she was finally able to smoothly flow from block to block and it was only a few seconds later that she found an opening and with a burst of energy, slammed an open palm into Jadeite’s chest before following up with tight spin and a powerful kick to the exact same place.

 The blow sent Jadeite skidding back, and Sailor Moon rushed to close in the gap, jump up, and slam both of her heels into Jadeite’s chest in an attack that sent him flying back into the wall. The added force from her kick sent her propelling back as well, and she arced her back to fall into a handstand and flip back up and around. Sailor Moon landed in a crouch, her pulse erratic as she tried to breathe again. Seeing Jadeite having trouble rising again, she quickly reached for her tiara, spun around to face towards one of the youma fighting Sailor Mercury and let the tiara fly like a discus.

 The youma cried out as it burst into ashes, causing Sailor Mercury to also cry out in surprise. Sailor Moon then fell down to the ground to miss Jadeite’s jump kick, spun around to lie on her back and pushed herself high up from the ground to land on her feet, only barely missing another of Jadeite’s hard kicks to the floor where she had just been laying. A lightning strike of pain seared through her body, and the Senshi of the Moon winced slightly. Her current body wasn’t used to so many acrobatics; she would have to remember that.

 Jadeite went at Sailor Moon again, sending volley after volley of punches and kicks, only for her to evade the first few and be slammed by the rest when another burst of pain ran through her. The attacks threw her back against the window glass, forcing her to look back at it and realize what would happen were she to fall out. Jadeite rushed at her again, throwing forward a hard punch. Sailor Moon ducked under and flipped up and around, watching as Jadeite’s fist slammed through the window glass, shattering it. He turned back slowly to growl at her and run for her again. He threw a kick at her again and she made sure to catch it this time, gripping his leg tightly.

 “Let me go, you twit!”

 “Everyone loves a whiner,” she remarked sarcastically, pulling on his leg around as she spun in place.

 Grunting slightly, Sailor Moon felt her body pull hard as she worked against his weight to spin him around in a circle. Jadeite flailed wildly as she suddenly stopped, letting the centrifugal force in his body send him flying out the window. Knowing he would definitely be back, Sailor Moon turned sharply, grabbing her renewed tiara and sending it flying at the very last youma. Her vision spun wildly as she slowly realized Sailor Venus must have taken care of one on her own. Her body trembled from lack of air and she sank to the ground as Sailor Venus and Sailor Mercury rushed up to her.

 “Where’s Jadeite?” asked Sailor Venus quickly, her sky-blue eyes darting back and forth. She looked back at a fallen Sailor Moon, the other leading senshi having completely passed out. Looking back over at Sailor Mercury, she then glanced back at the now untransformed Tsukino Usagi, realizing she was the one who would have to deliver orders now.

 “Jadeite’s gone,” she began slowly, “and Tsukino-san’s out of commission. We should get ourselves out of here while we have the chance. We’re at a disadvantage if he comes back again.”

 “I agree,” Sailor Mercury concurred, nodding her head slightly. “He could use Tsukino-san to get to us. My place isn’t too far from here – let’s take her and head there.”

“Sounds good to me,” Sailor Venus said while nodding. She squatted down to gather Usagi on her back, with Sailor Mercury helping the whole way. As soon as Usagi was mounted on Sailor Venus’s back, both senshi jumped onto the window pane and leapt out of sight.

* * *

  Approximately an hour later found Minako and the blue-haired girl resting in the latter’s room, steadily watching Usagi for any changes in her status. Minako frowned and sat back in her chair, head tilted slightly to the side. She looked over at the other girl, realizing she really didn’t know anything about the woman aside from her being a Sailor Senshi as well. Minako gave the other girl a small smile.

“Everything was so rushed, we never got a chance to really introduce ourselves. My name is Aino Minako – I’m a second-year at Shiba-Kouen Junior High. It’s great to meet another senshi.”

The other girl peered back at her softly, before showing a small smile of her own. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Mizuno Ami, and I just transferred into Azabu-Juuban junior high. This is all a bit much for me.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it,” Minako said joyfully. “I’m sure you’ll be fine with Tsukino-san there to help you out.”

“Ah…”

Ami glanced back over at the sleeping figure in her bed, a troubled expression showing up on her face. The other blonde looked at her new companion with a tinge of worry. The former heaved out a slight sigh, turning her attention back once more to Minako.

“Tsukino-san…is she a good person?”

The question caught Minako off-guard, and she stared blankly back at the other girl. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I heard a few rumors at school…she doesn’t seem to take many things seriously, it seems like. But it also seems like you pay her a lot of reverence…”

“I haven’t known her for long,” Minako started off slowly, choosing her words carefully, “but I don’t think she’s a bad person. On the contrary, she seems to be someone who really cares for others. I look up to her because she’s always trying her hardest and really, really wants to set things right. Plus, she’s just amazing.”

“How so?” Ami asked, genuinely interested. “I heard she doesn’t pay attention much in class, and that she doesn’t seem to care much for her studies.”

“No way!” Minako exclaimed in an outburst before clapping a hand over her own mouth. She gave the sleeping Usagi a quick glance before scooting closer to Ami, whispering,

“She’s really, really smart! We’ve studied together, and she finishes her homework in like ten minutes like it’s nothing! Math, history, geography, science…well, math and science take her a bit longer, but she does them with no problems whatsoever. It’s like she doesn’t have to apply any effort whatsoever! And get this,” Minako continued, spewing out all her information in a rush, “she says she’s not ‘concerned’ at all about what high school she’s going to get into! She’s amazing!”

Ami blinked a few times, her opinion of Usagi rising with each word. “She’s practically a genius then. I wonder if she would be willing to help me out with a few things.”

“I bet she would! She’s really nice – don’t listen to what those rumors say. I don’t think she wants to show who she really is to her classmates.”

“Well, that _is_ amazing then,” Ami agreed with a slight smile. “I never would have guessed. Is there anything else I should know, or perhaps I should ask her myself?”

Minako nodded gently. “Well, I don’t know. Like I said, I’ve only known her for a few weeks or so, but I don’t think she’s a bad person. I really look up to her because of her ability and the silent strength she has. Her abilities as both a person and a senshi are unbelievable, and she’s a great leader, or so I’d like to believe.”

“A leader…so, are there more of these ‘senshi’ out there? What is a senshi exactly? What are we fighting against?”

The blonde let out a soft sigh, her eyes narrowed as she looked down at the floor. “Senshi are warriors who fight for justice and the good of all creatures on Earth. We fight for the sole purpose of having a future to look forward to and to rid the Earth and universe of the horrible evil known as the Dark Kingdom. I don’t know much myself – Tsukino-san knows far more, I think. That’s part of the reason I follow behind her. There are other reasons,” Minako said remorsefully, “but I am too ashamed to say them out loud. To me, she’s my leader, and that’s all there is to it.”

“Well,” Ami started off softly, “I’ll save my impression of her for a later time until I get a better understanding of who she is.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” responded Minako with a slight nod.

“It seems like I may have to ask her about our enemy for greater details, but…I have one more question.”

“Yep?”

Ami peered back behind them at the two cats laying down on the floor, her expression uneasy. Minako looked back curiously as well, not seeing anything particularly of interest. Pointing down at the two cats, Ami asked,

“Are those two cats really listening to us? It’s like they understand everything we say. And I’m not supposed to have cats in here since it’s a high-rise apartment…”

Minako blinked once, twice, and then let out a few small giggles. “Yeah, those two cats are the smartest you’ll ever, ever meet! The black one on the right is Luna, and she looks after Tsukino-san especially, and the white one’s my cat, who’s named Artemis. Don’t worry if they talk too much – you’ll learn to ignore them after a while.”

“Well, I’m not really used to cats talking at all, actually…”

“You’re not the only one!” Minako jubilantly stated. “I remember when Artemis came up to me – I was totally freaked! But anyway, you’ll get used to them, don’t worry.”

Artemis frowned slightly, turning his annoyed gaze over to Luna. “It’s not like we’re zoo animals.”

“Well, I’m not sure I would take to talking cats immediately either, Artemis,” Luna chastised. “Get over it.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t have to make us seem so foreign!”

“We talk and have crescent moons on our foreheads. How much more foreign do you think we can get?”

“Yeah…but…whatever.”

Ami continued to stare at them, a thoughtful frown on her face. She turned to look back at Usagi, her expression slightly troubled. The other three turned their gaze back to Usagi as well.

“When do you think she’ll wake up?” Ami murmured aloud, shifting in her seat slightly.

She peered down at the floor curiously when she heard Luna pad across the floor, and watched the black cat jump up onto the bed. Luna looked down at her charge, tail flicking back and forth to show her uneasiness about the situation.

“It’s hard to say,” Luna began softly, training her eyes on Usagi face. “She’s been run fairly ragged over the past couple of weeks. The youma attacks have been taking their toll on her.”

Minako and Artemis gave Luna their full attention when she said this. Minako’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked back down at Usagi.

“How can that be?” Minako asked softly, and almost in an accusatory fashion. “I’m perfectly fine, so why is she suffering so much more than I am?”

“Emergencies happen, Minako,” Luna explained, heaving out a heavy sigh. “We can’t always notify you when there’s a youma present, and since you haven’t developed your powers enough yet to sense youma at any given notice, Usagi has to fight them on her own.”

“What?” Minako exclaimed, her eyes wide with disbelief. “She’s been fighting the Dark Kingdom without calling me? She could’ve sent you over or called my house or…!”

Luna frowned at the blonde. “Are you listening to yourself, or you just blabbing out of some certain need? There, was, no, time. For every second she would have taken to call you or for me to run over and get you, another person would have lost an ample amount of energy. By the time you would have arrived, there would not have been any battle to actually fight, and the Dark Kingdom would’ve gained an undue amount of energy to further their evil goals.”

Minako gaped at the cat, trying to work her mouth but unable to force any words out. As she processed this information, her expression darkened more and more, and she rose up from her seat to start pacing. Ami watched her pace, trying to grasp an understanding of what was currently going on.

“So, to summarize everything up,” she began, looking instead at Luna. “Tsukino-san has been fighting battles on her own without assistance because it would take too long for Aino-san to arrive at the scene, right?”

Luna frowned over at Ami. “Yes, that about sums it up.”

“Perhaps there’s a device we could make to inform each other of an attack that will save time,” Ami said, thinking rapidly. “A type of communicator, maybe. At least then, we could inform the others while we’re on our way to the scene of the crime.”

“That’s fine,” replied Luna, “and I will supply all of you with one. But that won’t help when we’re in a situation where there are several youma across the city. With only three senshi, you’ll have to spread yourselves thin, and then we’ll be back at square one.”

“Is there any way to regroup for each battle instead of fighting one-on-one?”

“Certainly, but then it comes back to the matter of not having enough time to work around everything. By the time everyone regroups to fight another monster and then regroups yet _again_ to fight a different monster, most of the monsters will be gone, having already taken all the energy they needed.”

Minako clenched her fist tightly, her knuckles cracking softly as she did. She turned around to look at Usagi, her mouth turned into a deep frown. Ami, Artemis, and Luna looked over at her, frowning when they saw her expression.

“That just means,” Minako said, closing her eyes as took in a breath, “we’ll have to find the next sailor senshi, now.”

“The next one?” Ami echoed, eyes wide. “How many of us are there?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Minako answered, her voice deeper than usual. “But we should go try to find Sailor Mars soon. Tsukino-san said she was at the Hikawa Shrine, so we should look there first. The faster we can get her, the better.”

Artemis looked up at Luna, unsure of how to interject. He glanced back at Minako.

“Sure, that’s a good idea, but what are you going to do? March up to her on her home territory and announce that she’s a sailor senshi? Firstly, I doubt she’d believe you anyway, and secondly, you run the risk of making her a target. Even if she doesn’t initially believe you, she may take some stupid measures to see if the story is true.”

“Well, what are we supposed to do then, Artemis?” Minako shot back, fire in her eyes. “We can’t let Tsukino-san keep doing this to herself! She’ll kill herself if we keep this up!”

Artemis and Luna looked at one another, each wondering what the best action to take was. Luna turned her head to peer at the sleeping Usagi once again, her mind troubled. _The only thing we can do is wait for Usagi-chan to wake up. She’ll know how to deal with Rei, and then I can talk to her about setting up some kind of group training session. It’s early, but that’s the best we can do at the moment._

“Well, she’s not going to wake up anytime soon,” Luna started off, facing the group once again. “So we had better make good use of this time. You two have homework to do, don’t you?”

Minako stared at Luna, her mouth agape, and even Ami couldn’t help but look a little taken aback. For the second time that night, Minako was made speechless.

“H-homework?” she barely managed to muster out. “She’s lying over there half-dead and you want us to work on _homework_?”

“She’s been in worse situations before. She just needs rest,” Luna assured the now near-hyperventilating blonde. “And the fact stands that you still have school to attend tomorrow.”

“ _Homework_?” came the bewildered question once again. “Luna, are you out of your mind?”

“Look,” the black cat snapped, her patience finally dwindling. “You can either stand here and gawk all night, worrying up a storm, or you can do something useful that may actually prove to help you in the future! Do you think you’re the only one worried about Usagi? We’re _all_ worried about her, but there is _nothing_ that can be done right now!”

Minako glared at Luna, her teeth grinding together. “I can’t work on _homework_ when she’s like that! It would be better if I just went out and took down some youma!”

“You do that, and you’ll be the next one down, and then only Ami will be left to fight!” Luna forced out tightly. “She only became a senshi today, so she has no experience working in the field at all! Usagi is far more advanced than you are, and look how she ended up! If you really, really want to do any good, you will go work on your homework and quit worrying about this!”

“But Luna–!”

“End of discussion!” the black cat barked out. “I won’t hear any more of your nonsense!”

Minako, miffed at Luna’s sudden adamancy, ground her teeth together and stalked out of the room, her hair billowing behind her. Ami watched her go, took one look at Luna, and decided it would be best for her to leave the room as well. As soon as the two teenagers left the room, Artemis frowned over at Luna, who had fallen down on the bed, her energy spent.

“Luna, weren’t you a little too hard on her? She’s just worried about Usagi.”

“Artemis, don’t you think I know that?” Luna sighed out softly. “But Usagi can sense things even while she’s sleeping. It wouldn’t do her any good to feel their constant worry for her.”

The white cat, surprised at this turn of events, said, “She’s _that_ advanced? Luna, just how long has she been a senshi?”

“She’s just a special case, Artemis. But come on. We should go out there to make sure neither of them do anything stupid.”

“If you say so, Luna…”

With one last glance back at her charge, Luna padded out of the room with Artemis in tow.

* * *

   _Usagi walked across a barren land in the clothes she had been wearing before the time-travel, broken marble pillars lying every which way and dust sweeping across the ground with a undetectable wind. Everywhere she looked, there was desolation and destruction. What may have been a city or land filled with bustling life before was nothing more than ruin and bleakness. For some reason, it tore at her heart strings to see such emptiness and utter lifelessness. Glancing down at the ground, she picked up a small glittering orb, turning it over in her hand. It was a piece of jewelry from someone who had lived there long before, perhaps there to show there had indeed been people living there at one point. Then, as soon as she was about to set it back down, the orb piled into dust, flowing away with the breeze. The young blonde looked up as the dust flew away, her emotions running wild just from seeing that little piece of jewelry disappear like it had never existed._

_She walked further into the ruins, not seeing anything that might have shown where she was. Whatever had happened to the area had happened long, long before as even the strong pillars were starting to break down. Usagi kicked a stone across the clearing, wrapping her arms around her as a shiver ran down her spine. Hearing a soft sound from behind her, she quickly turned her head to see what had happened when a strong wind blew past her, sending her golden tresses of hair flying. Closing her eyes because of how strong it gusted, she gritted her teeth. When the wind began to blow more and more violently, Usagi ground her heels into the dusty dirt as she slid back inch by inch. Then, almost as quickly as it had begun, the wind stopped._

_When she opened her eyes again a few seconds later, she was standing in the middle of garden lush with vegetation and fountains of water galore. Usagi let out a soft gasp as she stepped back away from the now very much alive environment. She looked from side to side, trying to figure out what had happened to the barren land from before. Had she taken yet another time travel trip into the past? How far in the past was she? Where was she? Usagi slowly turned around to gape up from afar at a city leading up to a giant palace, with activity galore everywhere._

_“What?” she whispered. “Are you kidding me? This cannot be the Moon Kingdom…there’s no way! What’s going on here?”_

_Usagi stared up for a little while longer, unable to believe what she was seeing. She looked down at herself to see she was still wearing her same Earthen clothes, which confused her even more. If she was in the Moon Kingdom, then why wasn’t she dressed as Princess Serenity?_

_“This doesn’t make sense,” she breathed out, looking back up at the palace. “But, I have a feeling I’ll get all the answers I need up there.”_

_Her mind made up, Usagi pushed forward from where she stood, up into the large city that resided behind the palace itself. She took note of the multitudes of villagers running about, each merrily walking and chatting as fireworks boomed high in the sky. Several of them stared at her and her clothing as she passed by, though she couldn’t exactly blame them. Her time period was a thousand years in the future – she no longer belonged in this one. She had to admit though, after being stared at for another full twenty minutes as she was_ still _making her way through the city, that the staring was kind of annoying._

_“It’s like when a foreigner comes to Japan, all we ever do is stare,” she muttered. “Maybe I should stop doing that if this is what it feels like for them.”_

_Usagi finally reached the perimeter of the city, coming up to meet two large, iron gates, open to the public. Looking high up towards the top of the gates, she couldn’t help but let out a small whistle of appreciation. “Why didn’t Queen Serenity show me the scenic route before? What a view.”_

_Honestly, she hadn’t thought it would be so easy to infiltrate the palace, but perhaps Queen Beryl hadn’t taken over the Earth just yet. If so, then there was reason for the Moon Kingdom to be  jubilant, she supposed. Well, it wasn’t as if Usagi was going to spoil the news – she wasn’t even sure if it was possible to do so._

_She climbed some steps leading from the gates up towards the main palace, and looked back for one last peek at the village, only to notice the giant gates were now closed. Astonishment flew through her mind as she stared at the locked iron gates that looked as if they had not been opened for a long while. Usagi took a step back, and another, and then one more after another until she had backed up all the way into a main hall within the palace._

_While she was certainly a little freaked out about the gate thing, Usagi had a task to accomplish. She looked down the main corridor leading down to the grand entrance and staircase, she supposed. As she walked, Usagi looked at each detail of the corridor, taking in everything that she could. This was her past after all._

_After about five minutes more of walking down the long corridor past expensive paintings, potted plants, and other miscellaneous, rich details, Usagi finally reached a set of large, oak wood doors, that seemed to extend up and up towards the heavens themselves – they were so large. Placing her small, right hand against the door’s surface, she closed her eyes, reaching deep within herself for the strength to face whatever was behind the door. What would she see? A group of happily partying people? Her mother? Luna?_

_Usagi slowly pushed open the door, somewhat surprised that it slid open so effortlessly. She pushed it open wider, quickly shutting her eyes to shield them from a piercing bright, white light. She raised her arms to cover her face as the light cascaded over her, like rays from the brightest sun ever thought possible. The young blonde gritted her teeth against the brightness of the light, finding herself almost blinded even with all the precautions she’d taken to protect herself. As soon as the light faded away, she slowly opened her azure-blue eyes – it was those same eyes that widened as soon they took in the view around her._

_Again, she stood in the middle of a barren wasteland, though this time, something was a bit different. Usagi’s eyes roamed back and forth for the beautiful palace and city she had just made her way through, but all she could see was destruction around her. She could tell this wasn’t exactly like the first wasteland she had been in though, as all the destruction this time seemed almost…recent. She was stunned – all the fountains, the lush vegetation, the beauty that could not even be spoken of without gasping in awe, all of it was gone, replaced with the ruins of a collapsed, ancient city. Usagi looked all around her once again, and looked up high into the sky, but she couldn’t even see anything but darkness – not even the Earth nor the sun shone up in the sky; it was just complete nothingness._

_Her eyes roaming all around, she noticed a solitary figure in the distance. Usagi took one step forward, and then another, and another, until she was running over towards the only other person alive in those barren ruins. As her footsteps clamored against the cold stone she ran across, Usagi saw the figure turn around and gaze back at her, eyes glinting with a touch of mysteriousness. She slowed down her approach, her own azure-blue eyes widening as she made eye-contact with none other than…_

_…Herself._

_Tsukino Usagi looked into the face of her own counterpart, Princess Serenity, Princess of the Moon. Her eyes wide in shock, Usagi could do nothing but stare at the princess, mouth slightly agape. Princess Serenity turned around to face the other blonde fully, her eyes wise and her countenance showing off a great maturity._

_“How can this be?” Usagi whispered, desperately trying to figure out what was going on. “The ruins, then the lively palace…then you…”_

_Princess Serenity frowned slightly, her eyes downcast. “Things are not as they should be.”_

Gee, you think? _Usagi wanted to remark sarcastically, but she held her tongue. “How can we be in the same place at the same time? Aren’t we the same person?”_

_“Well, yes,” Princess Serenity murmured, “and no. The proof lies in this.”_

_She grasped the moon wand in her fist, and held it up for Usagi to see. The ginzuishou twinkled brightly in Princess Serenity’s hand as she held it. Princess Serenity looked up at Usagi, gesturing gently for the other woman to take the stick. Usagi stared at the moon wand blankly, but reached out to take it from the princess’s hand. The ginzuishou glittered brightly, sending out bright, white rays of light in waves. Usagi frowned, not understanding what she was holding the moon wand for. She looked back over at Princess Serenity, who shook her head and merely kept gazing at the crystal. Very confused now, Usagi looked back at the crystal again, and frowned when she noticed the pulsing starting to increase. The ginzuishou’s pulsing fluctuated slightly, its waves of light ebbing away before it let out a monstrous wave of light, exploded with a multitude of small crystal shards flying in every which direction._

_Usagi and Princess Serenity covered their faces quickly to protect themselves against the explosion, each one letting out a small cry of surprise. Trembling slightly from what she had just witnessed, Usagi could only watch as Princess Serenity silently reached down to pick up the wand. About to ask what had just happened, Usagi’s words died at her lips as she saw all the shards of the crystal slowly start to float back and begin reforming the ginzuishou. Within half a minute, the ginzuishou was back to its original form, and Princess Serenity was regarding  it with a unfathomable expression._

_“What…” Usagi started, her voice shaking slightly._

_Princess Serenity fastened upon Usagi an expression of utter seriousness. “This,” she said slowly, “is the answer to the question you desired. You, while being a part of this world in all and complete reality, are only theoretically here. Technically, you do not belong. You are but an entity that neither exists nor is fully recognized.”_

_“An entity…? But–”_

_“You are Tsukino Usagi,” Princess Serenity forced out in a clear voice, “but yet, you are not. You are a soul without a place. You were sent here for a reason, but what reason, I know not. Do not ask me.”_

_Usagi swallowed, feeling as if her world was shifting slightly with this new information. Princess Serenity placed a hand on the other young woman’s shoulder, making a small, troubled smile._

_“Do not allow yourself to be led astray. The ginzuishou recognizes you as its master, but also understands you no longer have any right to hold it…at least not in this dimension. I cannot help you any further. You must figure out the rest on your own. I’m sorry.”_

* * *

 Usagi slowly opened her eyes and took in a deep breath as she walked down the street with Minako and Ami in tow. She had woken up about an hour earlier after experiencing a dream that left her in a somewhat sour mood. Feeling restless, she had decided to go try to recruit Sailor Mars onto their team, feeling that a meeting with the fiery priestess might do her some good. The others, having grown bored with doing their homework, decided to accompany her to the shrine, and Luna and Artemis in addition.

The three senshi plus two cats walked down the sidewalk, only slowing down when Usagi reached the entrance of the Game Center Crown. She gave the arcade a slow once-over, realizing she hadn’t been to the place in years – not since she had started university, actually. What with everything that had happened to her lately, what was the harm in having a little break to relax some? Hikawa Shrine wasn’t going anywhere in the next twenty minutes – they could afford to get a quick bite to eat. Minako and Ami glanced at her, wondering why she had stopped, and Usagi looked back at them with a quick smile.

“How about a fast sundae before we head over to the shrine? My treat.”

While Minako’s eyes glittered with happiness at the suggestion, Ami frowned slightly, along with Artemis. Luna simply shook her head, but said nothing otherwise.

“Shouldn’t we be going to the shrine instead? We need to hurry and recruit the new senshi, don’t we?” Ami questioned seriously.

Usagi chuckled, turning back towards the automatic doors. “Even superheroes need some downtime, Ami. If you spend your entire life doing what you should do instead of what you want to do sometimes, life will flash by with you having done nothing to change it at all.”

When Ami said nothing in return, Usagi smiled softly and walked towards the entrance, already imagining what kind of large sundae she would get to calm her nerves. However, she wasn’t looking at where she was going, and slammed straight into someone trying to walk out of the café. Usagi rubbed her nose from where she had hit the other person, and was about to bend down to apologize for her clumsiness when she heard Luna let out a soft gasp that was barely detectable for even Usagi.

She looked up at the person who stared back at her, a frown on his face. “Oh…”

Usagi looked straight up at him, her apology dying at her lips.

_Mamoru…_


End file.
